


Love, Sex, and Dragons

by James_Oliver



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: AU, Angst, Cocaine, Drama, Drug Abuse, Drugs, Dubious Consent, Ecstasy Drug, LSD, M/M, Marijuana, Party Drugs, Prideshipping, Recreational Drug Use, Romance, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-04-07 02:10:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 84,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14070594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/James_Oliver/pseuds/James_Oliver
Summary: ((Discontinued))It's been a few months since Seto Kaiba took the title of King of Games in a duel against Atem. After that, Atem seemed to fall off the face of the earth. Seto bitterly ventured on with his life and Kaiba Corp, the title firmly in his grasp with few duelists even close to being worthy competitors. A few years later, the up and coming game store a few blocks down from the KC tower is setting up for a mural across its store front. The artist? Suspiciously someone who goes by "Atem." Love, sex, and dragons (and drugs) get involved, not necessarily in that order.[AU, Prideshipping, Rated M for smut, dark themes, and drug use. Updates every week.]





	1. Winners Never Quit

It wasn't like Kaiba had become close with Yugi or any of his friends by the time the ceremonial duel took place. At most he would consider them...close acquaintances. Yugi in particular, he considered his rival. But as he watched two Yugis standing across from each other, he had to reconsider who his real rival was:

The boy named Yugi or the pharaoh they called Atem.

It had to be the pharaoh.

Atem's dueling technique was familiar; his mannerisms and voice struck a chord with Seto Kaiba. Yugi Mutou on the other hand seemed like someone he had only met in passing.

This made sense, and Kaiba was unmoved when Yugi won the duel. It was just a formality, a stupid metaphor. Kaiba watched Atem stare at the doors that supposedly led to the afterlife, where Atem would reunite with those from his past. Yugi had won, which meant Atem could step through. It meant Kaiba was losing the opportunity to defeat his true rival. Kaiba would never be able to defeat him himself.

Everyone was surprised when Atem stood his ground and watched as the doors closed in front of him. Minutes passed as the pharaoh remained before them, in his own body. He turned around and threw Yugi and his friends a cautious smile. They immediately tackled him, all laughing with a relished sort of happiness.

Seto Kaiba felt a twinge of emotion as he watched everyone else surround Atem. It felt like a fever dream watching two Yugis embrace, cry, and laugh. He stepped toward Atem and asked a single question:

"Why did you stay?”

The group was taken aback, and Kaiba cursed himself for sounding so sincere. But Atem didn't even skip a beat, smiling awkwardly and avoiding Kaiba's gaze.

"They waited three thousand years...what's a few more decades?"

The band of dweebs immediately cut in and stole back Atem's attention. Kaiba didn't bother sticking around. Later he would reconnect with Atem in a new tournament, where Atem would continue to pose as Yugi and...lose.

Kaiba publicly won back the title as “King of Games.”

Of course beating the pharaoh so soon wasn't good enough for Seto Kaiba.

Atem gladly participated in rematch after rematch and lost...every single time. It seemed like it was what Kaiba had always wanted, but for some reason every time Atem's life points dropped to zero before his very eyes, something didn’t feel right. He became convinced that Atem was losing on purpose. He tried to duel Yugi, in the hope of changing his own mind about who his real rival was, but Yugi lost as well. What made it worse is that both Atem and Yugi would lose with such grace. They dueled their hardest and lost with valiant sportsmanship. Kaiba tried to prove they were throwing away the games, but neither of their strategies had drastically changed. Kaiba was simply...the better duelist.

After another win against Atem, Kaiba lost his patience. He tried to call his bluff.

"You're losing on purpose," Kaiba sneered, crossing his arms as Atem reached to shake his hand.

Atem retracted his hand slowly, "Kaiba…”

“No. Let’s duel again. This time _don’t hold yourself back._ ”

“Kaiba, I never hold back. You beat me fair and square.”

“Well duel me again, and this time,” Kaiba loomed threateningly over Atem, “ _Win_.”

“I can’t...at least not right now I-”

“No, _Pharaoh_. I don’t want to hear your dumb excuses. Duel me again. Win this time.”

“I don’t have time right now.”

“I’ll clear your schedule for you. I can send someone else to do whatever it is-”

“I promised I’d meet with Yugi, Tristan, and Joey. I can’t just have someone fill in for me.”

“You can do that tomorrow.”

“Someone needs to run the shop tomorrow.”

“Next week.”

“No.”

“ _Fine_. Leave.”

“Kaiba-”

“ _Leave.”_

Kaiba pivoted and left, not giving Atem a chance to speak any further. They both were acutely aware of a significant change in their dynamic. As Kaiba walked away and Atem watched his departing figure, they both felt an uncomfortable sense of despair settle over them.

Kaiba felt it with Atem’s eyes burning into his back, wondering if Atem really couldn’t beat him anymore. Kaiba should have felt good about crushing him in every duel, especially since he was still a formidable opponent up until the very end. But it was too much that Atem lost every single duel. They would only be a perfect match if Atem won half the time. And he didn’t.

Atem felt it, watching Kaiba walk away. He wondered briefly if he should cancel his plans, but pushed the thought aside. If he stayed and lost one more time, who knew how Kaiba would react. Atem knew what he wanted. Kaiba wouldn’t say it outright, but he wanted to be able to lose to Atem, to prove they were on equal footing. It would be proof that they were each other’s ultimate competition, to lose to each other and no one else. But he couldn’t seem to win against Kaiba anymore.

Atem pulled out his phone and numbly dialed Yugi’s number.

Yugi picked up after the second ring, “Hey! You done? How'd it go?”

“Yeah…” Atem mumbled, forgetting to answer the second question. He looked in the direction Kaiba had left and supposed this time Kaiba wasn’t going to pull a car around for him. Kaiba had always done it begrudgingly after every one of Atem’s losses but this time felt different.

“I’m probably going to need a ride,” Atem sighed, making his way outside.

“What? Ok...where are you? Which one of Kaiba's-”

A car blared it’s horn and Atem almost fell over as his head snapped to the source of the noise. It came from a familiar looking long, black car.

“-Did you just get honked at?” Yugi half-laughed.

“Uh. Yeah.” Atem blinked as the driver motioned him over, “I guess I have a ride...I’ll be there soon.”

“Kay.”

The phone chimed softly as the call ended. Atem stuck it in his pocket and wandered toward the vehicle. The driver exited and held the side door open for him.

Atem nodded stiffly at the driver, but noticed Kaiba was already sitting inside as he moved to get in.

Kaiba saw Atem’s hesitation, “I’m not kidnapping you,” he huffed in annoyance.

“I didn’t think…”

“You did. Get in.”

Atem tried to hide his building anxiety and sat down on the leather opposite Kaiba. The door clicked shut and the driver returned behind the steering wheel.

“Where do you need to go,” Kaiba asked. It sounded more like a formality than a question. Before Atem could open his mouth Kaiba snapped at the driver, “Kame Game Shop.”

“Uh...thanks,” Atem responded, clasping his hands together between his knees. He was uncertain how Kaiba was feeling. He had been addressing him curtly all day. He was acting colder than usual.

“Sure," Kaiba replied absently.

“Kaiba...if you’re going to-”

“I’m not going to continue accusing you of throwing away our duels. Don't think that I actually believe that,” Kaiba stated coldly, “But since you can't defeat me, you're a waste of my time. I won't be _wasting time_ on you anymore."

Kaiba avoided looking in Atem’s direction, though he could feel intense violet eyes searing his skin. He waited for Atem to say something in response. Seconds ticked by and Kaiba felt like exploding. He wanted _some_ kind of reaction. Anything. Minutes passed and at that point Kaiba felt he would even put up with some sort of physical abuse. Any kind of response from Atem he could get without turning to look at him. The silence blanketed itself heavily over them as the minutes dragged on. Soon the car came to a gentle stop.

Kaiba hazarded a look at Atem, who stared back at him blankly. He didn’t seem upset.

That made Kaiba feel even angrier.

“Get out.”

Atem was surprised by the anger in Kaiba’s voice, “Is that..it?”

Atem expected it had only been an insult. Kaiba regularly threw those around, but the way he was acting...did he actually mean it?

Kaiba reached forward, pulling the door handle and thrusting it outward with force.

“ _Out._ ”

Atem suddenly felt dizzy and he quickly slid out of the vehicle. He opened his mouth to speak but Kaiba grabbed the door handle and slammed it shut, the door grazing Atem as it closed. The former pharaoh yelped and stumbled backwards as the car immediately began to pull away.

Atem heard footsteps approach from behind as he stared dumbly at the car moving steadily down the street before it disappeared around the corner.

“Hey Atem!” Yugi greeted cheerfully.

Atem turned and gave him a blank look, blinking twice at him. His mind was racing, trying to put together what had happened.

“Are you okay?” Yugi gave him a funny look.

“I think I’m going to stay in today.”

“What? But...d-did Kaiba say something to you?”

“...Yes.” Atem said and moved past Yugi and into the shop.

“What did he say-”

“Hey! Atem!” Tristan cheered.

“We got a-”

“Not now.” Atem cut Joey off while kicking off his shoes before heading up the stairs. He could hear Yugi pleading behind him but he was determined to dive into his bed, bury himself under the covers, and take a nap immediately.

Meanwhile, Seto Kaiba drummed his fingers on his leg, digging the digits of his other hand into his seat. He glared out the window and the vehicle pulled around the corner. Atem had barely said a word and it set him off. No, it set him off because he barely said a word. He didn’t even look offended when Kaiba had called him he a waste of time. He didn’t look upset. He didn’t take him seriously.

 _Yes, “that’s it.” Hope you boil over it for the rest of your life._ Kaiba thought miserably to himself.

He would have to find someone else to duel against. But if no one could beat Yugi or Atem, who would be able to beat Kaiba? He’d have to create create an AI that stood a chance against him, and essentially duel against himself. He’d go back to mindlessly holding tournaments he doesn’t compete in and let the stupid title die along with him. He’d work himself to a premature death and leave the company to Mokuba.

Kaiba rubbed his eyes thoroughly. He couldn’t do that. The sharks were eating _him_ alive as it was, and he definitely wanted to give Mokuba a shot at being a kid without dumping an entire company on his head. Not to mention that Mokuba would actually _care_ if he was dead.

He felt like vomiting. These thoughts had all been bubbling for a while, ever since Atem lost the first time, but had never overwhelmed him all at once. He felt silly musing about his own death, as if that were an option. The friendship brigade would probably tie him up and...bombard him with inspirational quotes or something for even thinking about it.

Well, none of them would be hearing from him anymore.

Atem felt the bed sink under a familiar weight. He laid completely still, but wasn’t pretending to be asleep. Yugi knew he was awake; it had only been five minutes since Atem had returned home. He didn't want to feel bad about skipping out on their plans. If he had known he was going to decide not to go anyway he would have dueled Kaiba again.

“Do you want to talk, mou hitori no boku?” Yugi asked affectionately.

Atem felt his tension melt a little, but he remained silent. Yugi had a way of getting to him. They had shared a body, and knew each other better than anyone. He hoped that meant his silence would tell Yugi all he needed to know.

“Are you sure you don't want to go?”

Atem shifted, bunching the blankets even more over his face.

He heard Yugi quietly sigh.

“I'm a phone call away,” and the bed rose slightly, “I guess we'll leave without you?”

Atem could tell Yugi was lingering by the door, trying to make Atem reconsider. He kept his mouth firmly shut. If he tried to say anything he wouldn't be able to say no. He would go. He would probably have a good time, too. Then he'd return to this cramped bedroom and think about what Kaiba had meant. He had to sleep before the dread settled in.

Yugi made sure to close the door softly behind him. Atem was behaving strangely, but whatever Kaiba said surely had something to do with it. Yugi supposed he had to make something up so their friends wouldn't witch hunt the CEO, since he didn't know what exactly Kaiba had told Atem. He wasn't going to make any assumptions, but he couldn't help imagining that Kaiba had finally boiled over about Atem's consistent losses.

Yugi jumped down the steps and returned to the two boys sitting in eerie silence by the counter. They knew something was up. What was he going to tell them?

“Hey...what's up with him?” Tristan asked cautiously.

Yugi grimaced, “He's tired. And grumpy. Didn't sleep well last night...he says he's sorry.”

Joey shrugged, “I can imagine with the way Kaiba's been harassing him lately. Kaiba won, he doesn't have to keep rubbin’ it in.”

“I'd be exhausted too if I had to spend so much time with that guy,” Tristan added.

“Let's go, we don't wanna make a lot of noise; it’s easy to hear from upstairs,” Yugi suggested gently and the two nodded. They grabbed their stuff and headed out.

The soft mumble of conversation and the ringing of the bell over the front door could be heard faintly from Atem's bedroom. He pulled the blanket away from his face. Worrying about feeling worse later had only managed to make him feel terrible now. He felt terrible bailing on Yugi. All he was going to do for the next few hours was lay in bed and brood. He felt terrible about what Kaiba had said. He stared at the ceiling. The world felt so small and he felt so claustrophobic.

He couldn't walk down the street without everyone thinking he was Yugi. He had pretended to all the world that he _was in fact_ Yugi. He had pretended not to exist for so long, now that he did exist on his own, where did he belong? Surely there was no easy way to incorporate an ancient Egyptian spirit into a modern society three thousand years later. He was supposed to be dead. In their history books, he _was_ dead.

He had originally wanted to stay for his friends, so he could grow old with them, living the life he should have lived. But circumstance had already destroyed that life. The longer he lived in this world in which he did not belong the more he realized his friends would have been fine had he moved on. Heck, they were going out without him right now. Kaiba had said goodbye, it seemed, and seemingly for the last time. Tea left for school in America. Atem, the Egyptian pharaoh, was sitting in bed staring at the ceiling wishing he was dead. That he had walked through those doors to the afterlife. It was technically the same thing.

Atem rubbed his eyes, moisture greeting his fingertips. He wouldn't dare think of other ways to return to his old friends from his short life as pharaoh. It would definitely be painful and everyone he knew, both dead and alive, would be devastated he ended that way. Besides, Atem didn't want to leave _that_ badly. He still loved Yugi and their friends dearly.

“What's a few more decades,” Atem laughed bitterly to himself. He pulled out his phone and texted Yugi.

> **You:** I'm really sorry

The phone fell onto his face after he weakly loosened his grip sending the text. Atem groaned, slightly in pain and annoyance, swatting the phone off of his face. It slid and fell to the floor with a soft _clack._ Moments later it hummed loudly on the wooden floor.

Atem scooped it up and opened a reply from Yugi.

> **Aibou:** Np! R u feeling better already?

Atem bit his lip unhappily.

> **You:** No.
> 
> **Aibou:** Oh...
> 
> **You:** Kaiba said I was a waste of his time.

Atem waited a few minutes but there was no reply. Yugi probably was busy or didn't know how to respond. Atem was fine with either, he regretted coming right out and admitting it in the first place, even if Yugi wasn't going to stomp on his ego.

> **You:** I'm sure he was just wound up
> 
> **You:** Or something
> 
> **Aibou:** I'm sorry Atem
> 
> **Aibou:** We're not having as much fun as we would have had if you were here
> 
> **Aibou:** If that counts for anything?
> 
> **Aibou:** You're definitely not a waste of my time

Atem enjoyed the pleasant buzzing in his hand as Yugi sent him messages trying to reassure him of his importance. The way Yugi texted was so different when he became serious. Though, as he read the messages he realized that it really wasn't the comfort he was looking for. Atem didn't feel like a burden, or that Yugi and his friends didn't like having him around. He wasn’t even completely upset about Kaiba when he really thought about it.

> **You:** Thanks. That means a lot.

How could he possibly explain his feelings in text? Besides, Yugi was out with friends. He didn't want Yugi to spend the whole time worrying about him. They'd talk more later.

> **Aibou:** of course!!!
> 
> **Aibou:** And I'll bring u something when I come home!!!
> 
> **Aibou:** To cheer u up!!!
> 
> **Aibou:** U will like it!! (big smile) (hearts)
> 
> **You:** I'm sure I will

He wasn't sure. But he wanted Yugi to stop messaging him and get back to whatever it was he was doing with Joey and Tristan. Eating, if he knew anything about those two. Or playing games at the arcade. Maybe both simultaneously.

His phone didn't buzz again so he placed it on the ground beside his bed. If Yugi messaged him again it would vibrate loud enough for him to hear it. For now he would hold onto the thought that maybe whatever Yugi would bring home would make him feel less terrible about the current state of things. He doubted anything material in the world could do that. He steadily grew more impatient for the day to end and Yugi to return.

Yugi wondered what he could possibly bring home to Atem that would make his day better. Usually it was as simple as bringing home something duel monsters and Atem would light up like a Christmas tree. He doubted that would work today, considering something had happened with Kaiba and all those two did together was duel. This time he needed to find something even Atem wouldn't have thought about.

If calling Atem a waste of his time was really how Kaiba was saying goodbye Atem was going to need something to distract himself. He wasn't good at immersing himself in things like video games so Yugi had to think of something else. He hoped Kaiba had just meant it as an insult, but the way Atem was reacting suggested otherwise. Atem loved dueling Kaiba, and that was the only way one of Kaiba's many insults would break Atem's own ego.

As Yugi walked back toward the game shop with Joey and Tristan, he stopped in front of a small store front. Joey noticed Yugi had stopped following them along and backtracked toward him.

“Hey, what's up? Why you lagging?”

Yugi bit his lip, lost in thought. Joey followed his eyes.

“Hey, what gives? I almost left you guys in the dust!” Tristan joked, clapping Joey on the back playfully.

“Do you think Atem would like painting?” Yugi asked, scouring the shop window. It was a craft shop of sorts.

“Huh? Painting?” Joey asked, scrunching his nose at the tacky paintings in the window he'd overlooked time and time again.

“I think he needs something calming to get his mind off of dueling for a bit,” Yugi hastily explained, looking towards the two, who he found blinking at him.

“Uh...well you know Atem better than any of us do,” Tristan replied, seeming a bit confused.

Yugi and Atem were crazy about dueling, so suggesting Atem take a break from it might have been a weird way to phrase the issue. But there was no good way to explain it without giving away what had happened, and Yugi didn't want to give anything away since he hadn't heard the full story.

Yugi pulled out his phone to find no new messages from Atem.

All Atem really did at home was join in with whatever Yugi and the rest were already doing, or he disappeared for a couple hours to duel Kaiba. Something he could do on his own might be good for him. Yugi had interests like manga and single-player video games. Atem's interests seemed to be very dependent on other people, and the times he chose to do anything by himself were few and far between.

Sometimes Atem would just sit and watch Yugi. He didn't particularly mind, but had always thought it would be nice if Atem _didn't_ do that.

Yugi cautiously wandered into the store. He didn't know a lot about art. He did wish to become a mangaka at one point, before finding his real interest in game design. But that was about all he had ever looked into the sort of craft.

Joey and Tristan trailed behind Yugi into the store.

“What do you think I should get him?” Yugi asked, overwhelmed by all the painting supplies stocked in only the first aisle.

Tristan hummed and scanned the shelves, grabbing a couple things. Tristan brought what he had found back to Yugi, “I think this should be good enough to start...not that I have any experience with this stuff.”

Joey laughed and wrapped his arm around Tristan’s shoulders, almost choking him, “Ey, don't be so modest. You're a man of many talents!”

Yugi quietly took the supplies from Tristan as the two chided each other. A set of acrylic paints, a sketchbook, and some paint brushes.

“Should also grab some canvases, but they're not in this aisle...” Tristan scratched his cheek awkwardly.

Yugi nodded and wandered until he found the canvases. He picked out a few cheaper ones, hoping they would be enough, and headed with everything toward the checkout counter. Even if Atem didn't pick it up, it might be a good way for him to unwind instead of hiding under the covers for the rest of the day.

Tristan grabbed the paper bag the supplies were packed into and the three headed out. Joey put his hands behind his head as he walked, elbows pointed skyward.

“It might be good for the pharaoh to pick up a new hobby, since we've stopped runnin’ around to try an’ save the world all the time,” Joey jested.

“We haven't had any reason to since the whole deal with the millennium items is over...apart from Atem still being here,” Tristan commented.

Yugi raised his head slightly. The days used to be a lot more eventful with a lot less time for...about anything. Yugi didn't particularly miss worrying all the time, or having someone out to get him or his friends, but that had been Atem's whole life since Yugi had solved the puzzle.

The bell over the door chimed merrily as the trio returned inside the game shop.

“Atem! We're back!”

Steady footsteps could be heard descending the stairs as Joey and Tristan helped Yugi unpack what they had brought. Yugi turned to see a disheveled Atem, with eyes swollen and red. He had obviously been crying, but he gave Yugi a gentle smile.

“Welcome back.” Atem cringed at the sound of his own voice, his throat felt like it had closed up.

“You okay Atem?” Tristan asked, sounding a bit shocked.

“I'm...fine,” Atem replied, knowing it was a poorly executed lie. He should have waited upstairs and tried to make himself look more presentable. He couldn't stand the worried looks on all three of their faces.

“What did you bring me?” Atem asked, eager to move the topic off his current state. He approached the counter where a few things were laid out. It seemed to all be painting supplies.

“I thought you could use something to do,” Yugi said quietly, “I stopped by the craft shop on the way home.”

“Huh.” Not what Atem had expected. He ran his hand over a canvas. Even if he didn't like it, this was all a gift from Yugi. He would pretend to be nothing but grateful if it killed him, “Thank you, Aibou.”

“Y-yeah.”

Joey crossed his arms in front of his chest, “What's up Atem? I can tell something's wrong.”

Atem scooped the supplies into the paper bag he assumed they had come out of, “It's really nothing. I'm fine. Just allergies.”

“It's winter.”

“I probably have a cold then.”

“You can talk to us-”

“I don't...want to.” Atem said firmly, clutching the bag and taking it with him swiftly up the stairs. He felt another wave coming on and he didn't want to cry in front of everyone. It wasn't their fault. He didn't want them to worry about him. It made him feel worse.

Without thinking he slammed the door behind him.

Everyone downstairs winced at the sound as it slightly shook the building.

“What happened?” Tristan asked, looking directly at Yugi.

Yugi sighed. He had to do _something_.

“He's been upset since he came home. All he's told me is that Kaiba called him...a waste of his time.”

“That's what Yami is upset about?” Joey asked incredulously.

“It had to be more than that,” Yugi continued, “Atem wouldn't get this upset over just something Kaiba said.”

Yugi felt a buzz in his pocket and quickly pulled out his phone.

> **Atem:** I'm very grateful for the gifts
> 
> **Atem:** I like them
> 
> **Atem:** I mean it

“Is he texting you?”

Yugi frowned at his phone. Atem was lying. Going up the stairs and slamming the door had been some sort of tantrum. What was up with him today? What had Kaiba done?

> **You:** What did Kaiba actually say
> 
> **You:** Tell me everything so I can help
> 
> **You:** Please

“What did he say?”

“He texted me thanks for the gifts…” Yugi mumbled, staring intensely at the screen waiting for Atem's replies to pop up.

> **Atem:** Nothing
> 
> **Atem:** This isn't really about that
> 
> **You:** Then what is it about?

Yugi felt helpless. Atem was never this closed off about anything. He turned to Tristan and Joey.

“I think you guys should go. I'll go upstairs and talk to him, I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.”

“You sure? We could wait.”

“I think this is gonna last longer than a day,” Yugi replied glumly, feeling the phone vibrate again in his hands.

> **Atem:** I'll talk to you tonight
> 
> **Atem:** Before bed

 

> **Aibou:** I’m coming up

Atem looked anxiously at the screen. He dropped his phone to the side and ran his hands over his face. Soon he heard two soft taps on his door.

“...Come in.”

He dreaded that Yugi had left Tristan and Joey downstairs.

“Are Tristan and Joey still-”

“No, I sent them home,” Yugi replied, gently closing the door behind him as he entered, “...You don't like the gifts, huh?”

“I do I just…”

“You don't have to spare my feelings Atem, you're the one upset about something. I want to help.”

Atem sat up and the weight shifted on the bed as Yugi sat down at the edge. Atem wanted to grab him and curl up with him and never wake up again. Yugi's mere presence was a source of comfort and yet it wasn't enough. He tried to think of how to formulate what he was feeling into words.

“I feel...stuck.”

“Stuck?”

“The world outside...it feels as small as this room,” Atem explained, hoping he was making sense, “Sometimes I wonder if I would have felt this trapped if I had left through those doors after the ceremonial duel.”

Yugi's expression changed from worry to sadness and Atem felt a pang of guilt seeing the shift.

Yugi felt a wave of selfishness rise inside of him. He had been overjoyed when Atem had stayed. At the time Atem had seemed happy about it, too. Even if Atem was happy at the time, it didn’t matter. He didn't seem happy about it now.

“I'm not saying I want to leave,” Atem added quickly, watching Yugi's eyes drift down to stare at the sheets, “I…”

“Can I do anything?” Yugi asked.

Atem suddenly pulled Yugi against his chest, uncertain of whether he was the one who needed the comfort or if it was for Yugi's sake, “You're already doing everything, Aibou.”

“What would make you feel better?”

“I don't know.”

Atem sounded like he was going to start crying, and Yugi honestly wasn't going to until he heard the tone in his voice. Yugi exhaled deeply into Atem's chest. He wrapped his arms around him in return.

Since Atem had gained his own body, he was a very physically affectionate person with Yugi. Atem would often absently put a hand on Yugi's shoulder, or grab his hand when walking down the street. It made sense, since they had literally shared a body, and half the time Yugi barely even noticed it.

At the moment, Yugi was grateful for being able to physically comfort his friend.

Atem curled into Yugi, breathing steadily. Yugi couldn't bring him Mana and Mahaad. He couldn't give him the life he should have had, that he longed for so desperately. Even if he had gone to the afterlife, he would have thought about _this_ world, and Yugi, and their friends, all in the same way. He couldn't have both.

“I'm here for you, Atem. Always.”

“I know.”

“You can cry again if you want to. I won't mind.”

“I know.”

Yugi sucked in air as Atem squeezed him tightly. After a moment Yugi tapped the pharaoh’s shoulder lightly and Atem's death grip quickly loosened.

“...Want to eat?”

Atem grunted in displeasure, burying his face into Yugi’s shoulder.

Yugi laughed a little, “You probably need to.”

Atem stayed silent.

“Well at least let me go when breakfast rolls around tomorrow morning.”

Atem unwrapped himself from Yugi, “I'll eat now. I guess.”

Yugi smirked, “What would you like? You can eat here, but only right now. I'll bring it up for you.”

“Surprise me.”

Yugi nodded and hopped up, “You'll clean up after yourself though, yeah?”

“I will.”

Yugi left, leaving the door open behind him. Atem felt a little selfish, glancing at the bag on the desk. Yugi did so much for him and never asked for anything in return. Yet it didn't manage to make him happy.

Atem got up and starting pulling things back out from the bag. It was impossible to be happy all the time, maybe the feelings would pass. It was just a bad day. A gloomy month. An unsatisfactory _series_ of months. He had been happy at first, after all. The excitement of this new life had just died down too quickly; the honeymoon phase with his new body was over. It didn’t mean much when he wasn’t recognized as himself in public anyway, and he had never specifically craved the privacy having his own body would give.

He scanned the contents of his gift. A few canvases, brushes, paints, and a sketchbook. Why had Yugi settled on getting him this stuff? He’d never shown interest in it. He had expected Yugi to buy him another plush, which Yugi would steal back later, or cards or even a sugary treat. Not a hobby. Was he trying to tell him something?

He laughed at the prospect of Yugi thinking that way. He definitely would, but in the nicest way. But Atem had plenty of things he liked to do. Like dueling. And joining Joey and Tristan on the couch to play fighting games. And helping Yugi cook. And playing against him in racing games. And…

He picked up a brush and ran his thumb over the bristles. Nothing he did didn’t involve Yugi, or Joey, or Tristan. On rare occasions they’d get together with Bakura and play Monster World. Sometimes Duke would invite them over for some friendly gambling and Dungeon Dice Monsters. It was fine, they were the reason he stayed after all. He shouldn’t _want_ to have time away from them.

Yugi headed back upstairs with a bowl of ramen. He had put some amount of effort besides simply using a package, but it still didn't take that long. Being away from Atem while he was upset made Yugi anxious.

Meandering back into the room, he saw Atem glumly inspecting one of the brushes, the rest of the supplies laid out on on his desk.

“I brought ramen for you,” Yugi said, thinking he should have put more thought into a heartier meal.

Atem glanced over and gave him a warm smile, “Thank you, Yugi.”

“No problem.”

Atem graciously took the bowl from Yugi and sat down cross-legged on his bed. Yugi leaned against the desk.

“Do you want to be alone?”

“Not really, anymore.”

“Okay...I’ll stay here.”

Atem swallowed, “Actually...I do want to be alone,” he said, Yugi’s uneasiness making him uneasy. He didn’t actually mind either way but he also hated the pity he felt emanating from his smaller counterpart.

“Okay…” Yugi hesitated, obviously not wanting to leave, “...I’ll be in my room if you need anything.”

“I’ll be here, I guess.” Atem replied, earning a sad smile from Yugi before he left.

Atem sighed deeply in the bowl, quickly feeling his appetite dissipate. Yugi really needed to stop mothering him.

Across the city, Kaiba craned over his laptop. Securing the title had made his company’s stocks soar. Every pot that Kaiba Corp had ever put its hand in was generating a lot of traffic. Within the first 48 hours the company website crashed, a fault only of the providers who hosted it, whom gracefully took the fall to promptly crash, burn, and be replaced, as well as every provider who fell short afterwards. Duel technology and merchandise were swept from the shelves by the masses. The media was a buzz. Seto Kaiba had been prepared for all of it, and yet he was still exhausted from the aftermath. He was only one man.

He reveled in some parts, though. He could snap his fingers and anything he needed to further the company was his. He could spit on someone’s shoe and their company would go down in flames. It wouldn’t last the end of the year, so he had to plan accordingly. The buzz would die down and everyone but the everyday fans would ultimately turn on him. A conflict was more interesting news than a success. He didn’t look forward to what asinine stories would begin to clog up every media outlet in the approaching months.

It was a blessing and a curse he would never lose the title again.

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Whew that was a lot of exposition.

I'm overjoyed to post my first fic on AO3! I want to thank [prettiugli](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettiugli/) for inspiring me to return to fanfiction!!! (hearts)

Though this chapter was extremely tame, the plot is going to take a sharp dip into some mature territory very soon. Please be mindful of the warnings I have put in place for drug abuse and sexual content.

Thank you for reading the first chapter and I hope you'll leave your thoughts below! I'd love to get some feedback!

**Next chapter update: April 6th**

Updates every other Friday!!!

~ James

P.S. if you wanna check me out elsewhere, follow my [Art Blog](https://starry-art.tumblr.com) on Tumblr or my [YGO Blog](https://two-thirds-seto-kaiba.tumblr.com)


	2. Very Busy People

Kaiba's eyes snapped open, waking flawlessly from his heavy sleep. The digital clock beside his bed told him it was five in the morning, on the dot. He slowly sat up, his head steadily throbbing as it did most mornings. Running his spindly fingers over the silk comforter, he relished the texture before moving to get up. He didn't have “five more minutes,” as his brother would often whine when Seto would try to wake him up. Kaiba had a company to run.

He stepped out of the silky pants he wore to bed and into the shower, turning the knob to shock himself awake with the cold water. The water quickly became scalding, but the cold lasted long enough to make him shiver. He washed himself thoroughly, and then held his arms out in front of him for a moment, watching the hot water bring color to his skin. He pressed the knob and the stream shut off.

After drying himself, Kaiba walked out of the bathroom with a towel tied around his waist. The smell of coffee greeted him, drifting from a steaming mug sitting on his desk. A fresh change of clothes were laid out on his newly made bed. Same routine as usual.

He pulled on the black turtleneck and it shaped itself snugly to his frame. He sipped his coffee while dressing himself the rest of the way, finishing off the mug before pulling on his classic flowing white coat and clasping the buckle of his belt. He put on his watch as the time read 5:23am. Kaiba's eyes traveled from his watch to his bed. Maybe he did have five more minutes…

A low grumble emanated from his throat as he bent down, firmly grabbed his briefcase, and walked out the bedroom door. He wandered over to Mokuba's room and gave three firm knocks. After a moment he heard Mokuba's feet stumble behind the door.

“Good morning,” Kaiba greeted warmly as a short black mop of hair sleepily opened the door.

“Morning…” Mokuba yawned.

Kaiba put his hand on his younger brother's head and ruffled his hair a bit, “You need a shower before school. I'm heading out.”

Mokuba shoved Kaiba's hand away in embarrassment, “I was gonna...”

Kaiba turned to leave.

Mokuba hastily called out to his brother, “I hope you have a good day!”

Kaiba paused and turned around, “Me too. Go get another hour of sleep. You don’t have to get ready for school yet.”

“Yeah, I know," The reply came in a yawn.

The door shut again with a soft _click_. Kaiba checked his watch. 5:25am. He could've taken those five extra minutes.

Instead, Kaiba resigned to take his time. As he began descending the stairs he could feel his body start to vibrate. The caffeine was kicking in. He'd have to shove something in his body to steady the shaking. Walking across the ground floor, he mentally went through the list of things he had in the kitchen. He grabbed the steel handle of the fridge and pulled out the protein shake Isono regularly prepared before bed, in case Kaiba needed something quick in the morning.

 _Yum. Powder and water._ He thought blandly to himself as he made his way to the front doors, shaking the bottle.

Isono bowed and followed him outside where a car was waiting to drive him to work as it did every morning. Kaiba admired the eerie red hue of the early sky. It was oddly beautiful. Short path lights lit the front of his estate as if the stars had spilled on the ground as night slowly waned from the sky. The air was pleasantly cool with the early spring weather. Kaiba could practically feel Isono start to sweat as he meandered toward the car. He took a swig of the protein shake and the enjoyment of his surroundings soured with the taste.

Kaiba glanced at his watch, 5:28am. He grit his teeth and slipped into the sleek black vehicle. He was slowly but surely arriving at work earlier each week.

He stared absently out the window, not really looking at the passing trees and buildings. The car stopped at a light and a large building caught his eye.

It seemed like the building had been painted over on one side with a sheet of white, which had then been chalked lightly into a neat grid. Kaiba immediately ran through his memory and remembered the city council talking about some...mural. He hadn't paid much attention. Now that he knew how visible it would be, he thought he ought to start.

He made a mental note to find out what the mural would be, and who the artist was, and run everyone involved into the ground.

The car pulled forward at the green light. Kaiba watched the city pass by as the vehicle drove with no further interruption. Nothing else seemed to be out of place. Still, Kaiba felt uneasy. He cared a lot about how the city of Domino appeared - he basically owned it. His impact was everywhere. After all, the city was populated by duel monster fanatics, and he owned the biggest proprietor of duel monsters technology. There wasn’t a single place where the residents of Domino couldn’t see his televised announcements. He was the main voice in decisions regarding public works, even when it was solely because of his power to throw money at them. He must have been approached about the mural when he was too busy to actually acknowledge what it was. He didn't want his city to be blemished with some tacky mural.

The car arrived at Kaiba Tower and he stepped out as the chauffeur opened the door for him.

Maybe the issue was even worse, maybe he hadn't been approached about it, since a level-headed Seto Kaiba would turn down the project without a second thought.

Kaiba bowed curtly at those who greeted him and began fuming as he rode the elevator up to his office. Well, it was an easy fix. He would find out all he could about the project and tear everyone involved to the ground.

As the elevator came to a stop he suddenly felt extremely nauseated.

He blew past his secretary and into his office and made a beeline straight for the bathroom. His body was riddled with stress and nausea, the nausea likely a result of the stress and his inconsistent diet. He arched himself over the toilet to retch violently. All he had in his stomach was coffee and a protein shake, and it came up with stomach acid, burning in his throat. After the contents of his stomach were dispelled, he suffered through a few bouts of dry-heaving.

Once that was over he collapsed beside the bowl, his whole body shaking. He caught a glimpse of his watch. 6:01am. Nevermind. He had needed those five minutes.

He pulled his phone from his coat and texted his secretary, instructing her to get him something cold to drink and something real to eat. He didn't care what it was.

> **Sec. Amanda:** Right away Mr. Kaiba.

Kaiba lifted himself from the floor and flushed the vomit. He gagged painfully at the smell that now filled the room and leaned back against the wall, pulling out his phone again.

> **You:** Also send the maid in.
> 
> **Sec. Amanda:** Yes sir.

Kaiba slipped the phone back in his pocket and wandered out and to his desk. He placed his hand on one of the screens and the three monitors simultaneously lit up as the computer system itself started. He settled himself in his chair as the machinery hummed ever so quietly and automatically began displaying his files in white on a calming blue display. If only people were so programmable.

He arranged documents for several new contracts across the three screens so he could easily refer them against each other. They needed to be reviewed to ensure he was getting the best deal out of them, and that any snakes weren’t hiding in the grass. He was developing a new technology, one he was overseeing personally, and didn’t want to included anyone who would even try to trick him. He hadn’t dished these companies all of the information, which would cause them to be less cautious with their choice of words.

Kaiba tapped a few things on his monitor, and then began relentlessly highlighting words in a few documents at once. He planned to print them out later, and send someone to place them face down on the business partners’ desks. It was an intimidation game Kaiba liked to play. If they were going to try to trick him, he wanted his competitors to become smarter about it. He would highlight their mistakes like a grade school teacher and hand back their work like the failure it was. It would get the message across, if they weren’t complete tools.

He vaguely noticed his vision beginning to blur, and the steady throbbing of his head returning. He continued working meticulously, trying to ignore it but he seemed to stop ingesting the information on the screen.

A soft tap came from the door.

“Come in,” Kaiba said, not looking up.

He heard a cart wheel in an assumed it was the maid.

“Bathroom.”

“Yes Mr. Kaiba.”

He listened to the wheels roll and the bathroom door handle click. He listened to the slight shuffling coming from her cleaning, staring blankly at the document on one of the screens in front of him.

Another knock resounded from door, this one firm and recognizable.

“Come in, Amanda.”

Kaiba looked up as she opened the door, quickly leaving and returning with a tall glass of green bubbly liquid in one hand and a small box in the other.

“Melon soda,” she said, placing the glass next to him on his desk, “And pastrami on rye,” she held out the small box.

Kaiba nodded, lifting the box from her hands and placing it on his desk.

She quickly retracted her arms, suddenly seeming flustered. She bowed deeply, “Will that be all Mr. Kaiba?”

Kaiba smirked, recognizing the subtle behavior, “Would you keep me company?”

She snapped back up, “But-”

“Nevermind then.” Kaiba pretended to focus back on his work, but paid attention to his peripheral vision of her. He picked up his glass and took a long sip.

She hovered by his desk. If she knew he had just puked his guts out he probably wouldn't seem so appealing right now, but he enjoyed the way she lingered, searching for something to get herself to stay.

“You can stay or leave,” Kaiba rearranged the documents, to pretend as if he was doing anything, since he couldn’t seem to focus, “It's up to you.”

He was trying to sound indifferent, but if she was going to stand there like a deer in the headlights any longer he might just chase her out. He had made a clear offer and he was starting to get annoyed that she was being so shy about accepting it.

After a moment he heard the door close, and he sighed to himself before he heard a chair be placed next to his desk.

He looked up toward the door, noticing the maid wheeling her cart away from the bathroom. That was the door that had been closed. Amanda was sitting next to him. She hadn’t left.

“Thank you.” He said, everything in him trying to keep from smirking triumphantly.

The maid bowed and wheeled her cart out of the room. Kaiba took a long swig of his drink. He could practically feel the heat emanating from Amanda, who was likely embarrassed to be witnessed casually moving a chair next to her boss. He ignored her for a moment longer, letting the secretary boil as he failed to acknowledge her presence next to him.

“Amanda,” Kaiba said casually, still not turning to look at her, “When is my next meeting?” He opened the small box she had given him to reveal a toasted sandwich with melted cheese. He grimaced, maybe he should have cared what she would bring. He had expected something more traditional, not more heartburn.

“Your next meeting is in the afternoon, at 1.” He could tell she was trying to remain stoic.

“Hmm. No morning appointments?” He said, trying to make a suggestive hint clear with the tone of his voice as he closed the box again. Despite her poor judgement in food that would be appropriate to bring him, she seemed like she would be fun to fool around with. Or maybe he was just bored.

“Um...n-no. Sir.”

He took another drink and tried not to make it obvious that he was trying to clean his mouth with it. He felt her shift, as if about to get up and he placed his hand gently on her knee.

She immediately sat firmly in place, as Kaiba tentatively stroked her knee. He looked over, showing her a smile, which grew in amusement as he saw the intense look on her face and her legs slowly spreading.

 _That's my go ahead._ He leaned over, letting his hand travel up her thigh. She let out a small, needy gasp, grabbing his hand and pulling it to her chest.

He grabbed her breast firmly, not quite enjoying the stiff texture of the combined layers of her bra and her thin blouse. He boldly moved to unbutton the shirt and she made no move to stop him, so he released enough buttons to slip his hand beneath. Her hands gripped the chair. She seemed a bit afraid to touch him but was encouraging his actions verbally, with quiet pants and small utterings of the word “yes,” which Kaiba greatly appreciated.

He stood up, pushing her chair back easily, and stood in front of her. He put his knee between her legs and her legs spread so wide the her skirt lifted to her hips to reveal pretty red underwear. He leaned down and attacked her neck with his mouth, biting and sucking harshly. Kaiba knew he was being excessively violent in his mannerisms, but Amanda seemed to be enjoying it immensely, much to his delight.

He felt her palm his crotch and the sensation caused his head to spin. He collapsed backwards into his desk, catching himself on the edge.

Amanda snapped her knees firmly shut, “A-are you alright?”

_Ugh. No._

“I'm fine.” He mumbled spitefully, though he was honestly embarrassed and felt extremely fatigued. He had been a bit overzealous.

She quickly stood up, pulling her shirt closed, “I'll...I'll be at my desk if you need me.”

He just nodded, straightening up and stared pointedly over at his monitors as she adjusted herself and left. His body was in too bad a shape to handle sex, apparently. He sat down and leaned back in the chair. It was probably a good thing she had suddenly turned into a skittish deer, probably afraid she had taken it too far and didn't want to lose her job. She wouldn't, he decided, and he’d make it a point to improve his own damn health until he could ram her against the desk as hard as she could take it. Because she was the first to seem like she could take it.

The frustration he felt melded back into thoughts he had earlier in the day. His mind flashed to the curious building on his way to work, that appeared to be setting up to get some trash painted on the side of it. He growled and decided to sit down and look into it now. The building, he remembered, belonged to a fairly new and popular game shop called _Game Begin_. It sold some of his company's products.

 _Not anymore_.

Kaiba typed its name into the search bar. The business’ website pulled up, along with a few posts on social media about teaming up with an “independent artist.”

He considered calling the business directly, but decided to scope out the artist first. Maybe he’d make the proprietor sweat by cancelling the project, and pulling product out from under his nose. Kaiba wouldn’t be satisfied by making it easy, it would be more fun to poke a few holes and watch the entire ship sink.

He clicked on the first article that had mentioned an “Independent Artist.”

The very first line mentioned the artist’s name. His heart felt like it had stopped.

_“...an independent artist, Atemu Muran, formally known by the pen name “Atem."_

Kaiba's head suddenly throbbed violently, causing him to involuntarily slam his face into the desk. He groaned, leaning back holding his face.

If _this_ was the Atem he thought it was, what a fucking coincidence. After the cold exchange with Atem over his losses, Kaiba had cut all ties with the dweeb brigade, and barred them from any means of contact. Despite secretly still keeping tabs on Atem, Atem just...fell off the map. It wasn't too hard to do, considering Atem had no official citizenship or public records. The public didn't know he existed. Still, Kaiba had never expected it to happen, since Atem lived with Yugi.

Yugi Mutou was more than easy to keep track of, he was a recognizable public figure, and it was never within the realm of possibilities, in Kaiba's mind, that one would ever be without the other. But Yugi had lived alone for the past three years. Kaiba knew this for certain. The two were similar but had key differences, and Kaiba only registered Yugi on surveillance cameras scattered about the city. Additionally, for the past three years Yugi had been the only one who ever ran the counter of the game shop, causing the hours it opened to be cut down until Joey had picked up the slack of Atem's disappearance. Unless Atem was permanently holed up in the second floor, Atem had somehow vanished or left the city without Kaiba’s awareness.

No one on the outside knew of Atem's existence, so it wasn't like he could send someone asking without immediate suspicion. He couldn't do it himself - he wasn't friends with them, or even acquaintances after cutting contact. He wouldn’t get Mokuba involved, even though he knew Mokuba would be overjoyed to be allowed to see them again, despite the pretenses of obtaining information. It wasn’t important enough to play the long con or get his brother involved, especially since he had purposely cut them off in the first place. So, after no trace of Atem showed up over the months following the initial disappearance, Kaiba decided to stop looking.

But if this artist was _that_ Atem...

He quickly typed Atemu Muran into the search bar and hit enter. On the other screens he pulled up the Domino City residents database and public citizenship records. Nothing about an Atemu Muran showed up on those records, but a few things popped up in the general search. Mainly articles about the mural, as well as an online store and a couple relevant images.

Kaiba feverishly opened up the images, as well as the store on a separate screen. Many of the pictures were elaborate designs of various duel monsters as well as fantastical dark landscapes. Some of the landscapes were eerily familiar, besides the landmarks, in some of them the sky was clouded in thick purple smoke dotted with hundreds of eyes. Kaiba recognized this imagery from the “shadow games” that occurred back when Atem and Yugi still shared a body.

He bit his lip, scrolling downward, letting irrelevant images blur together in his vision until no more images popped up. There were no pictures of the artist. If this was Atem, Kaiba was slightly impressed. So far he wasn’t easy to identify, save for the name. The art wasn't bad either, from what he had glimpsed at.

He scrolled back up, stopping on an elaborate drawing of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Kaiba’s breath hitched, clicking on the image.

**Do you want to open the link?**

**Yes** **No**

The prompt opened on his computer. He ground his teeth. He checked where the image would lead him, which traced to what he recognized as a journalism website. He could simply redirect himself to the full image, but instead clicked “Yes” out of curiosity.

The tab opened to an article titled “Mural planned to celebrate new administration at _Game Begin_.” Kaiba scrolled down quickly, scanning for the image he had clicked on. The image was shoved in the middle of the text, and Kaiba huffed at the poor design of the article. Considering the image hadn’t been at the top of the search, and the fact the image was shoved in the middle of the text, it seemed like someone _were_ trying to hide it. As if some big CEO would cut down the project if he found out.

Kaiba’s train of thought disappeared as he pulled up the image and it filled the screen.

The picture quality was poor, only due to the camera it had been captured with, but it was clear enough to see some of the brush strokes carefully painted on the piece. It was a beautifully stylized rendition of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, almost as realistic as the holograms made for his own technology. The three headed dragon had its wings outstretched in front of a glittering cloudy sunrise of orange, yellow, and pink. In the image streaks of white lightning could be faintly seen cutting through the colorful sky. The dragon itself had its three heads lifted delicately, elegantly, the middle with its mouth open to reveal shimmering teeth, holding a ball of blue electricity. He definitely wouldn’t mind seeing this on his way to work every morning. He thoughtlessly brushed a finger over the screen, tracing the shine on the beast’s metallic scales. The screen moved slightly at the touch and it brought him back to reality.

He let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and quickly downloaded the image rather guiltily. Then he directed his attention to the store webpage he had pulled up on a seperate screen, leaving the image of the painting up on the first.

The site was pretty minimalist. The front page was a black screen neatly decorated with pictures he had already seen in the image search. The top of the page displayed four tabs labeled “Home,” “Shop,” “Contact,” and “About.”

He immediately clicked on the “About” tab. The page that popped up was a simple square of white on a black background, containing a paragraph of text and a portfolio link. No pictures of the artist.

Kaiba grunted, scanning the information detailed in the paragraph.

_...Atemu Muran...male...22 years old...Atem...a close friend got me into painting four years ago…three years ago I moved from the city and began work freelancing..._

There was nothing particularly personal about anything written on the page, and anything that was personal was pretty vague. “Close friend,” no name given. It would be normal for someone to not disclose a name, but this felt like purposefully withheld information. At least a first name should have been provided, if the artist was trying to seem approachable. If it was Atem talking, the close friend had to be Yugi. Atem would never be one to exploit Yugi’s popularity, which explained why the name had been entirely evaded. If the little information given gave anything away, it did line up with the fact that Yugi had lived alone for the past three years.

And why would someone move outside the city to begin freelancing as an artist? Busy areas provided exposure, and beginning artists needed exposure to gain traction and popularity.

The age would be right for Atem, too. _If you subtracted the three thousand years_. Kaiba snickered to himself.

He opened the contact page and was met with a few numbers, an email address, and a button labeled “Donate!” Text at the top explained:

 **If you have any questions, concerns, or want to discuss a commission, you can contact me at any of the numbers or the email below!** **You can also donate if you click the button at the very bottom!**

**Thank you for all of your support!**

Kaiba briefly considered using one of the contact numbers. Even if it wasn’t Atem, he wouldn’t mind paying this guy to paint something on a wall in one of the rooms in his mansion. Maybe something for Mokuba’s room too, if his brother cared about that sort of thing - which Kaiba wasn’t really sure of, a thought that slightly upset him. He’d have to subtly slip the kind of topic into conversation sometime. Maybe drag Mokuba to an art museum, if he found a good enough excuse.

Scrolling through the prices for the prints in the shop, even if a personal commission cost three times as much, it was pennies to Seto Kaiba. He wondered if he could bribe the guy to paint that Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon for him instead. Deny the public something he could enjoy...alone.

He could send an email, and use a pseudonym to scope this artist out. Considering _this_ Atem was apparently popular enough to be asked to design and paint a public mural, Kaiba doubted he’d release any deep-seated information to some unrecognizable nobody, however. Especially since, despite the explanation for not naming his ‘close friend,’ the about page had been rather informal while masquerading to being approachable.

Kaiba hovered over the donate button. He could throw away money worth a few of the most expensive prints in the shop. Then create a fake name and email “Mr. Muran” about it.

_This is stupid._

Kaiba leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the contact page. He had cut off contact with Atem, on purpose, and he never changed his mind when he decided to cut someone out of his life. Why was he considering doing that now?

It had to be Atem. Kaiba knew there were reasons to keep his identity as hidden as possible, namely that Atem looked almost exactly like Yugi Mutou to the untrained eye. Even after “Yugi” lost the title, he was still a popular and well-respected duelist, as well as a game designer working with one of Kaiba Corporation’s own subsidiary companies. Atem probably wanted to avoid the confusion. The media outlets would publish about their respective successes like they were still the same person. Atem always put Yugi first, and he would hide his own success, especially since Yugi was too honest to take credit for it. More than that, Atem had created his own identity, but if he showed his face he’d possibly be discredited as just being Yugi’s alter ego.

Kaiba glanced up at the clock on the wall. He had spent almost an hour on this. Stalking his former rival, or someone who, with so little information, seemed to be Atem. It was too much of coincidence. Kaiba would have to find out when he’d be working on the mural and get a glimpse of him from afar, just to confirm the suspicion, then he would be done with this.

He had to contact _Game Begin_ and squeeze that information out of the owner. He could threaten to pull his tech from their shelves if he had to, a threat that would bring any reputable game shop to its knees. For some unfathomable reason, Kaiba had the insatiable urge to know if this was really Atem.

 _Then,_ he told himself, _I’ll be done with him._

 

Atem expertly snapped a photo of his most recent piece. He frowned at the picture, noticing the brush strokes he thought were out of place were sort of….highlighted in a photo. He tried taking another, but it only seemed to make it worse. His customers wouldn’t think anything of it, but it still irritated him.

He had painted a picture of the Dark Magician and a Kuriboh, floating in some kind of starry cosmos. The initial mistake was in some misplaced dashes of white of the shine on the magician, but as he scrutinized the picture he found more things not to like. The Kuriboh’s eyes were too big and the magician’s hat was too long. He bit into his cheek almost painfully while picking it up to place it on top of more recent works that had dried.

He hadn’t put much thought into the painting in the first place. This was fine. But he found himself staring at it a moment longer, feeling overwhelmingly depressed.

 _Yugi would still like it,_ he thought, but turned away swiftly, heading towards the fridge. Atem didn’t think it was good enough. He wanted to give Yugi an original piece he was actually proud of.

He grabbed a soda from the bottom of the narrow fridge and screwed the cap open. Atem took a sip and looked across at the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon he had nailed to the wall above his bed. That one wasn’t...for Yugi, though. But soon everyone was going to see it, he mused, feeling a bit giddy. Even Seto Kaiba, if he actually did anything besides work or ever went outside at all. Atem hoped he had made his identity obvious enough for Kaiba to notice, surely Kaiba cared about a mural in the city his corporation basically runs.

 _Maybe I should take some pictures...and let my face circulate,_ Atem considered, but shook his head at himself, _Then everyone else would figure out who I am, too. Surely Kaiba can figure it out without the extra help._

Atem felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out. It was Reo, the owner of _Game Begin,_ that had messaged him.

> **Reo:** What time do you plan to work tomorrow? Reply ASAP
> 
> **You:** I dunno 8? Maybe earlier or later it depends

Atem looked quizzically at the phone. Was that it? The text had been phrased sort of urgently. When discussing the commission, Reo had been pretty laid back and let him make his own hours, Atem just had to finish it within a month. He had acquired two others to help him with such a big project, so it would be a quick and easy job and would probably even be finished early.

Atem placed the phone on the counter and took another drink. The phone then lit up again, buzzing noisily against the countertop.

> **Reo:** We need to organize mandatory hours, how about three days a week from 5am-8am?

Atem almost spit out his drink. Was he serious? He wasn’t going to leave that early in the morning. Sometimes he _stayed up_ until 5am...not always by choice.

> **You:** I don’t think that’ll work
> 
> **Reo:** Only twice a week?
> 
> **You:** Not happening.

Atem felt his hands shaking, debating with himself. He needed this. He needed the money. He needed the publicity. He needed certain people to see this project finished. He’d die if Reo decided to drop him.

> **Reo:** Once a week, you start at 5:30?

Atem gripped the phone tightly. Where was this coming from? At 5am the sun wasn’t even up. It wasn’t realistic to paint that early in the first place! He'd have to get the team to work that early too, it wasn't just him!

> **Reo:** New offer...11am to 1pm, three times a week.

Atem let out the breath he was holding, eagerly replying.

> **You:** A lot more reasonable
> 
> **You:** I can do that
> 
> **Reo:** Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. You start tomorrow.

Atem frowned. He didn’t want to work on it on Fridays and Saturdays. Especially since he'd be working during the lunch rush with those hours. Tons of people would be out and about. It made him anxious.

> **You:** I’m okay with Wednesday. No Fridays or Saturdays
> 
> **Reo:** Twice a week then, Wednesday and Sunday
> 
> **Reo:** Any other day you can work when you want to
> 
> **You:** Deal
> 
> **You:** Where is this coming from anyway?

Atem stared but no new message popped up. He sighed. So much for making all of his own hours. It was weird, though, Reo had seemed to do a 180. He had also originally asked for crazy early hours...and then a time in the middle of the day? What the hell? But he couldn't afford to lose this job, he knew when he'd get something this big again. He moved to put his hours into his calendar, and then realized that tomorrow would be Wednesday.

> **You:** Do I start those hours tomorrow?
> 
> **Reo:** I did say that, but come in early if you like. You still have to work from 11-1 though
> 
> **Reo:** I'll contact the rest of your team

Atem furrowed his brows. Why was Reo being a hardass all of a sudden? He thought it over. Maybe the process for making the mural was too ugly? Atem could reason with that, but he could make it look reasonable by the end of the next week without these fixed hours. The difference in the times that had been suggested also nagged at Atem. Something was off.

He downed the rest of the soda and tossed it into the bin with practiced aim. He was only halfway through the day and he felt terrible. He needed to unwind. He walked a few steps, over to his bed and reached underneath it.

He lived alone in a studio apartment about twice as big as his old room above Kame Game shop. His full sized bed sat snugly in the corner, covered in twelve pillows of various shapes and sizes, a large sheet, a fluffy decorative blanket, and a heavy comforter. A short blue dresser sat at the foot of the bed, with a stack of finished paintings piled on top of it, including the one he had finished today at the top.

The corner across from the bed was dedicated to his art supplies and the bathroom door separates it from the kitchenette shoved in corner on the same wall. A circular bar table with two tall chairs sat in front of the kitchen corner and the front door was across from the kitchen, next to the bed. A small bin sat next to the door and full length mirror sat against the wall next to the only window. The floor of the apartment was wooden, just like his old room, but half covered by a giant ugly patterned rug he had bought at a flea market. It was speckled with a few obvious stains from various spills, mostly paint.

From underneath the bed frame, Atem pulled out a small box and placed it gently on top of the bed. It was a metal lock box with four simple number dials on its face. He methodically turned each one and popped open the lid. Inside sat two unmarked pill bottles and a small decorated pipe. One bottle contained a small collection of shredded plant and the other contained a few colorful pills. Atem weighed his options.

Marijuana had a strong scent, so he'd have to spend the next few days airing out the place. It was, however, really good for relaxing. He picked up the bottle containing the pills. Ecstasy was more fun to do around others, but he didn't feel like doing the upkeep after smoking weed, so he dumped three colorful pills into his hand. He made sure to first securely tuck everything back into its place, turning the dials to random numbers. He shoved the box back under the bed. Then he threw back the pills in his mouth, swallowing them dry and headed over to the fridge to grab another soda.

He tried to keep his mind clear, knowing the best results came when his mind was blank. After about thirty minutes he'd start to feel it. Until then he decided to drink the soda and scroll through his phone.

He didn't do drugs because of some deep-seated unhappiness, or at least that's what he had told himself. But the world felt as big as he could imagine it to be when he was high. It wasn't that tiny room on the second floor of Kame Game anymore. He no longer felt trapped inside Yugi's body despite having his own. He didn't entirely depend on the drugs to feel that way, but it definitely helped.

Atem traced his tongue along his teeth, grabbing his tablet from the small square of kitchen counter next to the fridge. He flopped down onto his bed and pulled up the internet browser. He mused about spending some of the mural paycheck on a laptop as he shamelessly pulled up a porn site from his bookmarks. He began searching for a video that he could watch when the high would kick in. He wasn't sure how long it had been already, but he figured by the time he settled on one he'd hopefully begin to feel it.

He screwed the lid back onto the half-finished soda and let it roll off the side of the bed. He clicked on one of the thumbnails on the front page and skipped to the middle of the video, to see if it would be worth his time. The video took a moment to load and as soon as it started playing, the moans of the _very_ enthusiastic woman getting pounded on-screen reverberated from the speaker of the device. Atem shifted, watching intently but frowned slightly, as the camera watched her face and moved down to her chest pressed up against the arm of the couch. He clicked away, previewing a few other videos, mainly consisting of similar videos with the focus on women’s faces and breasts as they were throat-fucked or pinned to/against various pieces of furniture.

He scanned through lists of videos, typing in various keywords: Amateur, Doggystyle, DP, Threesome, Dominatrix.

He told himself he was just being indecisive as he pondered what to put in the search bar next. Popular tags were listed underneath:

**[Blowjob]  [Amateur] [Brunette]  [Big Cock] [Gay] [MILF]  [Big-Tits] [Jerk-Off]**

His fingers hovered over the screen as his eyes burned into the words. He clicked the last tag. After the page reloaded, his eyes were greeted with hundreds of thumbnails. He bit his lip, suddenly feeling a bit feverish. Atem's eyes fell on one particular video and he eagerly clicked on it. The man in the video was pale and thin, with abs rippling down his abdomen. He was gripping his porn star length cock and the camera was angled downward to focus on his body.

Atem made sure the video began to load, making a makeshift stand at the end of the bed for the tablet with a few of the pillows next to him. Then he started removing all of his clothes. He threw off his shirt and felt the familiar burst of energy a high on ecstasy gave him as he slipped the black sweatpants he had been wearing since last night down his legs. He removed them along with his boxer briefs, beginning to stroke himself impatiently as he stared at the paused image. He reached into the side of the bed, grabbing a bottle of lube that sat between the bed frame and the wall.

Nerves fired all over his body, giving him intense feelings of pleasure. He was already enjoying himself immensely, too much to press play on the video for a solid minute. He flipped the cap of the lube and squeezed a small amount into his hand. As he lathered his cock generously, he reached his other hand out to hastily tap the phone screen.

Moaning erupted from the phone speaker and Atem cried out in response, violently jerking himself in surprise before returning to a steady pace. He sped up, mimicking the movements he watched on the screen. He felt the lube heat up in the friction, making him feel hot all over as he shivered with delight.

Atem focused his eyes downward at his own dick, blissfully imagining someone else's hand wrapped around it, pumping his foreskin up and down the shaft and back up over the head. He pressed his thumb into the tip and kneaded over the slit gently with the pad of his finger.

He glanced up at the video, seeing the man's face was now in view of the camera. Atem moaned enthusiastically, practically grinning as he watched the expressions of the porn star. Atem felt an inexplicable warmth, wishing to reach out and touch him. He vividly imagined rubbing their cocks against each other in his hand. His free hand traveled upward and landed on his chest.

Atem’s body felt extremely sensitive; his own hands felt electric against his skin and he involuntarily clenched his jaw when his fingers grazed over his nipples. He pressed the nub between his fingers excitedly, moaning in a higher pitch as he squirmed under his own hands. His legs alternated between snapping tightly closed and relaxing, spreading wide open with each wave of euphoria and intense pleasure.

Atem felt pressure build at his base, closing his eyes tightly as he listened to his own moans mix with the ones emanating from the video. The arm teasing his nipples dropped to the side, fingers clutching the sheets as he steadied himself for the building release. His whole body constricted as his orgasm spilled out onto the sheets in three violent bursts.

His hand continued to stroke his shaft, collecting some of the cum still leaking out to lubricate himself again. The man on the screen was still going, too, filling Atem's eardrums with delicious sounds. His eyes focused back on the video as the camera panned down, away from the actor's face and Atem moaned in displeasure. He locked his gaze back onto the guy's impressive length.

Atem ran a hand through his own hair feverishly, roughly tugging as his body convulsed. His body was shuddering, almost as if he were trying to orgasm again already. He squirmed, alternating between tugging at his hair and pinching his nipples until both areas were sore. He panted restlessly, with the strange ache of wanting something inside of him. Aching to be fucked.

Atem heard the unmistakable sounds of the star in the video orgasming and immediately collapsed back into the mass of pillows behind him. He steadily pumped himself; even though he couldn't seem to get another release it still felt amazing.

He flipped over and snuggled into the pillows and blankets, shoving the blanket that he had dirtied off the bed. He breathed in deeply, imagining he was clinging to someone else. He bit into the pillow under his face, feeling playful. He thrusted into the bed, pleased by the intense softness of the comforter on his naked skin. His body felt warm all over, making it easy to imagine he was grinding into someone extremely soft and made of pillows.

His arousal calmed noticeably, but it was a pleasant sensation to absently hump the fluffy pillow between his legs. He snuggled deeply into his bed, imagining he was back in Egypt in his lavish palace buried in his expensive sheets of silk. He'd bring someone into that bed with him. He tried to think who he would possibly want bring.

If he brought Mana she would blush but would quickly bury herself in the sheets as soon as she felt their soft texture. She'd cocoon and he wouldn't get his bed back, ever. Bringing her would be an obvious type of gesture, and he didn’t exactly think of her, in that way. She would be a strange companion to bring into his bed, considering the pretenses of a pharaoh bringing a woman into his chambers.

The thought of Yugi in his bed invaded his mind. Yugi would be good company, he was soft and warm and the perfect size for cuddling and maybe Atem wouldn't mind doing stuff...like...

The image of slender fingers interrupted that thought. Large hands with manicured fingernails. Running through his hair. Trailing down his back. Digging into his skin.

Atem buried his face in the sheets, feeling his body catch on fire and his need for stimulation returned with intense force. Anything he imagined almost felt real. He cried out, pretending his head had been yanked back by hands gripping his hair. He didn't even have to think too hard to feel a ghostly sensation of hands running across his skin. The room felt warm and his head felt pleasantly dizzy as he imagined hands touching his body. He brought his hands to his face, running them over his cheeks and through his hair as he moaned at imaginary sensations. Waves of pleasure made him shudder, feeling like he was sinking deeper in the bed as he pressed into the mattress.

His throat grew numb with his repetitive, guttural moans. His body was so sensitive that the phantom sensations caused his eyes to water. Any type of stimulation, even imaginary, was driving him crazy, the feeling of the pillow locked between his legs, his own hands running over his own face and tugging his own hair. He felt himself melt into a puddle, still squirming and gripping the sheets with no outside physical contact besides any his mind imagined. He was vaguely aware he was going to feel absolutely spent when the drugs wore off, but until then he felt incredible and felt like he had the energy to pleasure himself for days without stopping.

He weakly reached for the lube, messily squeezing too much in his hand in his haste and quickly reached back to tease his own hole. He buried his face in the sheets as he slid a finger easily inside himself. He worked himself up to three fingers and fucked himself relentlessly. He stuffed the sheets in his mouth, trying to quiet down but it felt too wonderful to not moan enthusiastically. He imagined longer fingers, reaching deep inside of him. He imagined getting pounded by another man.

After three hours that felt more like 15 minutes to him, Atem would crash. The energy slowly seemed to drain from him before his muscles suddenly began constricting painfully. His entire body was soaked in sweat and he felt slightly confused that his whole body had suddenly begun to feel terrible. He clenched his teeth as he pulled himself from the bed. His throat felt raw, his dick felt raw, his ass was sore, and his back felt like it had been broken. His wrist was painfully cramped from reaching back and moving like that.

Atem breathlessly chuckled, “Worth it…” and cleared his throat, bending down to grab the soda from the floor. He struggled to open it, feeling painfully fatigued. He drank the lukewarm beverage and cringed slightly as the bubbles rippled down his throat. It was painful to swallow, too. Even the muscles in his neck were sore.

He turned around and shoved all the pillows and blankets off his bed, wincing as he heard the tablet thump on the hard floor. The damage was already done, so he carefully lowered himself down, hearing his joints slowly creak as he did so. He’d sleep it off and leave worrying about the things he had done and imagined for the waking version of himself.

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey, I warned you. If you couldn't tell I'm setting up for a lot more on the way~

Thanks for reading and I hope you'll leave me a review!

(The title is based on Very Busy People by The Limousines because yes, I am definitely the type of person who uses song titles/lyrics as chapter titles. Music fuels my creativity. Bite me (winky face).)

 **Next chapter update:** **April 20th**

Updates every other Friday!!!

~ James


	3. The Devil in the Details

Birds could be heard singing noisily through the thin apartment walls as small streaks of sunlight filtered through the window blinds. Atem roused slowly from heavy slumber, tucking his limbs into his body as he shivered at the temperature of the room. He had slept naked, with no pillows or blankets, while the weather was still recovering from a cold winter. The person he had been last night was an idiot.

He willed himself to get up, his body vaguely remembering the stress it had been under the night before. It wasn't unbearable, but it wasn't pleasant. As he moved his legs to get up, a soreness between his cheeks revealed its presence. He was immediately reminded of things he felt he should feel more guilty about than he actually did. Namely imagining Seto Kaiba while he fucked himself. Imagining Seto Kaiba fucking _him._

He slid off the bed and walked around to the dresser. He pulled open the top drawer and grabbed clothes to wear for the day. He had work to do today, and would give anything to stop focusing on the shameful things he had done in the twilight hours. Hopefully it was currently _before_ 11, or he'd seemingly get into some trouble with Reo. Atem set his jaw bitterly. Where had he left his phone anyway?

Atem wandered over to the pile of fabric next to his bed. The clothes he had worn yesterday had to be buried somewhere underneath the blankets. He found the tablet, and luckily the screen had no visible damage. He turned it on to make sure was still functional. It blinked on and the video he had been watching last night briefly flashed on the screen, with the male porn star shown covered in his own semen, before the page flashed white and reloaded itself. Atem sucked in a breath and quickly closed the tab, feeling his cheeks heat up and the rest of his blood rush to his crotch. He glanced at the time at the corner of the screen, relieved to see it was only 9:30.

He shut off the tablet and placed it gently on the bed and reached down, rummaging through the pile until he found his phone. Some of the fabric felt stiff and he grimaced, knowing he'd probably have to wash the lot considering how carelessly...enthusiastic he had been last night.

He found his phone and placed it on the bed and headed to the door in the back of the room to take a shower before he dressed.

The bathroom was barely a room. It had a toilet, sink, and a shower head attached to the wall. The floor was tile with a drain in the center. It was basically a shower someone had put a bathroom inside of. Every time Atem stepped inside of it, he sort of missed the game shop. Even if his actual bedroom had been tiny, the living accommodations had been much larger.

He made quick work of washing himself, ignoring the water temperature as it took its time to heat up. His wash soaps sat on a metal shelf above the sink, along with the hand soap, toothpaste, mouthwash, facewash, lotion, toilet cleaner, bleach, laundry detergent, bottles of over-the-counter medications, and a small, practically unused bottle of cologne. His toothbrush sat on top of the console sink, and below the sink sat a large tin bucket holding a plunger and a toilet brush. It made the most of what little space that was to be had.

Atem slowly pulled down the knob to shut the water off as he realized he hadn't brought in a towel. He really didn't want to risk tracking water on the wood floor of his apartment. He fell back against the wall of the tiny bathroom, a small _slap_ reverberated as his back hit it. He'd have to let himself drip-dry a little, at least. He hung his head and thoroughly shook out his hair, rubbing his hands through it and squeezing water from the strands. He couldn't keep towels _inside_ the bathroom. The bathroom was a fucking _shower,_ despite the curtain track on the ceiling that _would_ separate the showerhead from the toilet and sink if he bothered to replace the curtain _._ He pulled the plunger and brush out of the bucket under the sink and turned the bucket over to shake it out a little. He didn't shower long enough to make the water really collect, but it was something to do.

Atem didn't feel that miserable in the moment, just annoyed and cold. The day was going to be fine. He was going to work on a project he'd been preparing for, one that he'd been planning for for two months since the initial commission. Today it would begin becoming reality, and the dispute about some mandatory hours had only mandated four hours out of the week. It wasn't a big deal, now that he thought rationally. Oddly suspicious, though.

He squeezed out his hair again for good measure and shook off what water droplets he could before opening the door. He was shivering from the cold along with the fatigue in his muscles as he quickly hopped onto the carpeted area of the room. He pulled a towel from the dresser and dried himself before wrapping it around his waist and made his way to the fridge. He pulled out the carton of eggs and a package of bacon and set to work making a very basic breakfast for himself.

Even after three years he wasn't used to living alone, and cursed himself for pulling out an extra egg and cracking it into the pan. He resided to the slightly larger meal and scrambled the eggs together, letting the bacon cook in another pan and cursed aloud whenever the oil popped and hit his naked skin. He stepped back, letting the food finish its cooking and silently wondered when he'd become so disorganized.

“Losing to Kaiba probably did it,” Atem said aloud to himself. He didn't like the silence, but filling it himself was almost worse. Sometimes he expected Yugi to respond - but it had been years since they had shared a body, or even a home.

Atem scooped up his meal onto a plate and sat at the circular table. The table and chairs were tall so there was a small space between his toes and the ground. He ate, cleaned up, washed the blankets in his shower-bathroom since it'd be too much to bring down to the laundromat, got dressed and spread the wet pieces of cloth on the railing just outside the door. He highly doubted anyone would care to steal some ugly patterned sheets which probably wouldn't be dry until much later, even in this neighborhood.

He went back inside and grabbed a hair tie from a ceramic handmade bowl inside the cupboard above the kitchenette. The cupboard only housed two other bowls, two plates, and two cups - one housing pairs of each type of silverware. This cup had a visible crack. A plate and a fork were currently missing from the cupboard and instead sat on the counter, drying off from being washed. Everything was visibly cheap.

Atem pulled the spikes of his hair back into the hair tie, humming lightly to himself. He grabbed a medium sized canvas bag from underneath his bed and filled it with a few supplies he might need for the day, along with his wallet and his keys. The walk would take around 50 minutes, and it was already 10am by the time he set out. He kept his speed brisk, despite the cold air hitting his arms due to wearing a sleeveless hoodie with a tank top underneath. He liked showing off his arms, and decided the cold would keep him alert.

He climbed down the metal steps, noticing the strong rustic smell the frame gave the air, and the dust that kicked up despite walking down these steps almost every day. It was a small apartment complex with only two floors. Atem lived on the second floor at the very end of the left side. He hurried down the street, sticking close to the grass. This particular area didn't have a paved sidewalk, just a bit of dirt and grass next to the road. He kicked the can of an energy drink he found on his way until he reached a sidewalk, and paid close mind to his surroundings to stop his mind from buzzing or his body from complaining.

He longed for a warm coat and idle chatter. He'd love to hear Joey talk about duel monsters or video games or obscure hentai or listen to Yugi talk about video games or duel monsters or obscure hentai. Instead he made his trek to work alone with only the buzzing thoughts in his head. He hadn't had much reason to return to the city very often, and when he did it was usually to the post office on the outskirts or bars at night. Whenever he did anything else in the city it made him anxious.

He cut across the street between cars when he got lost in the thought of his night. Heat built in his core and he grit his teeth. It definitely hadn't been a fluke. He should've just smoked and went to bed.

Instead he had decided to get horny and indulge in some urges he'd been trying to suppress.

“It doesn't make me gay, right?” He mumbled to himself, dragging his feet against the concrete. There wasn't anyone around to judge him for talking to himself, and he did it so often in his own home it felt strange not to think out loud.

“I guess I don't think I have ever…” he bit the inside of his cheek.

_I don't think I've ever really felt aroused by naked women. And I can't stop thinking about last night. And getting aroused._

These were thoughts he couldn't say out loud. Even as he thought them he felt himself regrettably getting hard picturing the male porn star he had watched jerk off, further proving his own point. He started jogging to move the blood elsewhere, though his canvas bag knocked awkwardly against his thigh, so he eventually gave up.

He walked past a few blocks of suburbs, which gradually became cleaner and neater as he ventured closer to the city. Atem had always noticed this, and thanked Domino’s dedication to cleanliness. It was refreshing to walk on neatly paved sidewalks with no traces of litter on the ground. The suburbs quickly blended into small businesses with immaculate storefronts and eventually the various popular shops of the main city. Short garbage bots, courtesy of Kaiba Corporation, hummed gently past him as he made his way deeper into the city. It was coming up on the lunch rush and Atem clutched his bag tightly, feeling anxiety well up within him as cars passed by. Soon they'd be clogging up the roads. A kind red chevy driver let him cross and he ducked down an alleyway toward _Game Begin_ to avoid Main Street _._

Exiting out of the alley, he wondered if he had gone the wrong way. The street was completely devoid of people. There were no cars passing by, nor were any parked at any of the meters. He recognized the shops, but the street should have been humming at least, if not beginning to become overcrowded. He looked down the street toward _Game Begin_ and noticed the reason why it seemed to be a ghost town - roadblocks had been set up, and an officer stood by. Atem grimaced, should he go back? Did he still have work? Should he go around and greet the officer from the outside?

Atem decided to come up from behind as there were two ends of the street and hopefully he was still allowed to work, as Reo hadn't said otherwise. He tapped on the man's shoulder and the officer calmly turned around with a puzzled look.

“Yes?”

“Why is the road blocked off?” Atem asked bluntly.

“You'll have to take that up with Kaiba Corporation. You're not gonna get any more information asking on this end of the street. Only those employed by _Game Begin_ are allowed in to work on the mural or whatever. You're employed by _Game Begin_ right?”

Atem blinked. Why would Kaiba Corporation block off the street? Atem simply nodded, readjusting his bag and heading toward the building in question. In any case, Atem was glad to have the privacy, but he couldn’t help questioning...why?

He chewed on his tongue anxiously, taking small steps toward the building. Kaiba Corporation didn't do anything unless expressly approved by Seto Kaiba himself, right? His branch companies may occasionally, but even then Kaiba seemed to have all of the leverage over even the tiniest decisions. What interest did Kaiba have in this street today? And only those working on the mural were allowed past? Why?

Atem stopped with his hand up to the front door of the game store. He could see Reo milling about behind the counter through the glass, but Atem’s arm was frozen in place.

The schedule. Reo’s sudden change of tone. Kaiba Corporation blocking off the street. Oh god. It _had_ to have something to do with Kaiba.

Atem knocked weakly, feeling the blood drain from his body, and Reo headed over to open the door.

“It was unlocked y’know.” Reo said, “Anyway supplies are in the back. Ladders are set up. I can help you bring stuff out. No one else is here yet.”

Atem silently nodded and followed him into the back. The large tubs of acrylic paint and other tools and supplies were already loaded on a couple wooden carts. Reo opened the garage doors into the back alley and started tugging a cart out. Atem looked at one of the other carts with a dry mouth.

“Did Kaiba set my hours?” Atem asked hoarsely, numbly bending down and grabbing the handle.

“What?” Reo asked, but something about his tone suggested he had heard Atem.

“Nothing.” Atem said quietly, thinking it was answer enough. He didn't want to know the truth anyway. He racked his brain for reasons Kaiba would care so much. Atem surely hadn't made himself seem that unreliable, had he?

5am. Kaiba had originally asked for 5am. Why on earth?

Now he was working mandatory hours at 11am. Lunch rush hours. With the street blocked off. Lunch. Work. It suddenly clicked. Kaiba wasn't going to drop by to check on him...was he???

Atem pulled the cart up next to where Reo had stopped the other. Reo headed back in to grab another cart, but Atem stood outside dumbly staring at the wall.

“Hello?” A male voice spoke a few feet from Atem.

Atem looked over to see one of the members of his small team looking vaguely confused.

“The roads were blocked off,...are we still working?” The man asked, looking over the supplies and ladders, seeming to realize the answer himself.

Right. They were working on a mural. Kaiba would be checking on the mural. Not Atem. Kaiba could probably care less about him. He had surely shown him that by completely shutting him out.

Atem's heart sank into his feet as he wordlessly nodded. This man was Syo, he had told Atem to call him only that. He was a slightly older man with dark hair and olive skin, but he also had a distinctly Jewish nose. He was friendly but seemed to be having a hard time in Japan. Atem had purposely taken on people who seemed to need the job but were also pleasant to talk to. Syo had seemed a bit odd, but appeared to be a good man who needed work. The other whom had not shown up yet was a girl fresh out of high school. She was Korean, and despite academic origins, she had abandoned going into a prestigious college in pursuit of art. Atem could offer her work experience and her cut would bring her closer to affording an art degree. Plus, Syo wasn't entirely artistically inclined, so he had made it a point to find someone who absolutely was.

“Mr. Muran!” A girl's voice called, seemingly from the front of the building.

“Around the side Keiko!” Atem called, testing if shouting would calm his nerves. Not at all.

Meanwhile Reo came back with a cart Syo followed him back to pull out more of the supplies.

Keiko hopped around and greeted Atem with a formal bow. Atem quickly waved his hands.

“No need for that...we're a team.”

“Ah...sorry sir.”

“Atem.” He said quietly, slightly blushing. It was strange to be dressed as an authority. He definitely wasn't one. He had talked briefly with both Keiko and Syo to interview them, but not much else. It made sense for her to be so formal for an interview but it was strange to be addressed in such a way in person.

She nodded, and quickly moved the ladders around. They had been propped up but not into convenient spots. Atem moved to help her, but she seemed to do fine on her own. He decided to take off his bag and pull out what he needed. He pulled out a folder full of copies of his painting - all gridded darkly to be easily transcribed onto the much larger canvas - a notebook, and a few pens.

Syo returned alone with a cart and pulled it next to the others.

“Will this be enough for today?” Syo asked.

Atem nodded. The wall had already been prepared - Atem had spent the previous morning overseeing its preparation. First they needed to start with the backdrop.

“Time to mix some paint. We're going to need a fade from the top of yellow, orange, and pink to create a solid background. We'll need to cover the entire thing in these colors. So we'll need…” Atem directed the two in mixing the acrylic paint with gel, to make the paint more resilient. Syo was surprisingly good at math, factoring out amounts in good time. Keiko continued to surprise Atem with her physical strength, moving the large tubs of paint with a surprising ease. Atem and Syo barely had to put much effort into lifting when she held the opposite end.

Atem got lost in the work, pleased to focus on the paint and listen to Keiko’s idle chatter.

 

Seto Kaiba tapped his fingers on his thigh silently, waiting for the meeting to end and tried not to be so obvious in his disinterest. The meeting was cutting into lunch, and despite having plans, he hated when anything ran overschedule. He'd have to send Isono to grab something for his brother since he wouldn't have time to steal him from the school campus and take him to eat at home like he always did on Wednesdays. It was stupid he'd decided to make Atem's schedule land on Wednesdays. There was a reason he always had that time set aside, and it wasn't for foolish endeavors like seeing if his ex rival had become the artist of some mural.

The meeting finally closed and Kaiba stood to dismiss everyone before promptly leaving the room. He sent a message to Isono and stepped into the elevator when a hand was stuck into the door.

“Mr. Kaiba!” Amanda panted, “I've tried getting ahold of you all morning.”

“I was in a meeting.” Kaiba replied, knowing he had purposely ignored her messages and was now annoyed that she was actively stopping the elevator. Bold, but annoying as hell. His company’s new project and the mural were making him feel more uptight than usual, and he currently didn’t have time for this.

She shrunk back, “It's urgent. Three companies have threatened to pull out from the project if they don't get _full_ documented information from you, sir.”

Kaiba crossed his arms, stepping out of the elevator and into her personal space. She stepped back, but kept her composure quite while.

“I can't give them that.”

“Well-”

“Well nothing. I guess they'll miss out.” Kaiba turned around and the doors opened again.

“But sir that only leaves two companies-”

“Hah. Honestly after this takes off they'll all be groveling to become a part of it.”

“But sir the company is using 30% of its assets if it fails may people will lose their-”

“Come down with me if you're going to chew my ear off.” Kaiba interrupted flatly, motioning her into the elevator.

She nodded shortly and stepped inside. Kaiba stepped in beside her, making sure to stand close enough to lightly touch besides the ample space. He was trying to intimidate her, and it seemed to be working as she had stopped talking.

Kaiba reached behind her for the railing on the opposite wall, almost seeming to embrace her if he wasn't simultaneously looming over her, “Your job is to organize my schedule and remind me of important information. Not to interfere with the way I run my company.”

“I-I just thought…”

Kaiba felt a familiar sense of power fill him. She was intimidated now. If she wanted to give him criticism she should have at least been convincing and persuasive and not so easily frightened.

He backed her against the elevator wall, careful not to touch her without a proper cue from her to do so. He'd put off his current plans until Sunday. He was already running late and he wanted to _punish_ her for making him run even later.

“Um…” she said breathlessly, “I didn't mean to criticize you, M-Mr. Kaiba. But I thought...it would be in your best interest to take...immediate action…”

_Cute._

She was looking at his lips, that was obvious. Kaiba smiled devilishly and pressed the stop elevator button gently with an outstretched hand. He hovered his face above hers. He hadn't slept much better the night before, nor had he really eaten a proper breakfast. And now he was missing lunch.

“Mr. Kaiba…” she said in a voice below a whisper.

He pulled back and quickly set the elevator in motion again.

“M-Mr.Kaiba-”

“You're fired.” Kaiba said bluntly and the bit his tongue so hard it almost bled. He was only firing her out of frustration. If she begged he could take it back and she'd be docile for the rest of her employment underneath him, and, well, _underneath_ him.

She didn't speak. In his peripheral vision she had straightened up but was staring a hole into the wall. When the doors opened she quietly spoke, “I will be gone by the time you get back.”

They both stepped out and he saw her head toward the general employee elevators. He tried not to feel disappointed even though he knew it was better she avoid his manipulation. He wasn’t sure if he’d feel guilty manipulating someone in that way, but now he wouldn’t know. He hoped he still had time to spy on a certain someone, to save what was left of the lunch break. He'd have to track down a new secretary, too.

_I could have at least fucked her,_ he thought spitefully. Instead he ran her in a circle, and she caught on...with the wrong idea of his intentions. It wasn't a ploy to fire her, and he hadn’t intended to manipulate her into submission. He just wanted to get off.

He was shit at people. They were predictable to misunderstand him and never failed to let their emotions get in the way. Businessmen were not pleasant to be around, however, since they had no emotion - but were much easier to work with.

He hopped in the car waiting for him and headed toward _Game Begin._ It was 12:23. He'd get there around 12:38. It would be enough, just to get a glimpse. The hair would tell him all he needed to know and he’d hire a new secretary before he even got back to the tower.

The buildings passed by the window view and blurred together in Kaiba's vision. His hands gripped his knees so tightly his knuckles turned white. He'd rather be sitting with Mokuba at home than follow this seemingly pointless task - every fiber of his being knew this was Atem, his former rival, but part of him needed to _see it._

He watched the time on his watch fixedly, witnessing the seconds tick by in a crawl under his impatient eye. The time finally got to 12:38 but Kaiba knew full well the amount of lights that had stopped the venture would slow them at least a full minute. 12:39 and the car stopped outside the blocked street.

Kaiba slid out of the vehicle smoothly as soon as the door was opened. He was welcome to pass between the roadblocks by the monitoring officer. He walked swiftly, thinking over the excuses he had made in his head, wondering how easily Atem would pick up on his lies. Atem had always been intelligent and perceptive, and picked up on even kaiba’s most benign lies.

He grit his teeth as he approached the game store, trying to seem unbothered. He knew they would be working around the side so he didn't bother knocking at the front. From a distance, he recognized none of the three figures working. A teenage girl stood atop a ladder, skillfully rolling a large paint roller to blend yellow upward into orange. An older man worked at the bottom of the wall, fading the pink into yellow. A figure in a black sleeveless hoodie with the hood pulled over his head mixed a large tub of opaque liquid. His arms were lightly toned and tan; the arm facing Kaiba was covered in tattoos. There wasn't much to go by as the figure was bent over the tub. Kaiba approached quietly, studying the designs of the tattoo sleeve. A depiction of the anthropomorphic Egyptian God Ra, an Egyptian-looking woman, and unmistakably Slifer the Sky Dragon surrounded in flames. Kaiba cleared his throat quietly and the tattooed figure froze.

Kaiba realized he now had to speak, but did so smoothly and quietly, “How is your project coming along, _Mr. Muran_?”

The figure mumbled something incoherently and leaned into his work further. Kaiba frowned, but could see blonde bangs hanging out from the hood.

Kaiba grimaced and crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to speak louder, “You do know who you're talking to, don't you? If-”

“Seto Kaiba!” A female voice shrieked, and from his peripheral vision he could see the girl on the ladder lose her balance.

Involuntarily he stepped back to catch her when she fell. The large paint roller hit him and fell away, slapping paint into his hair and on his cheek and the shoulder of his jacket. He bit his tongue painfully to keep from cursing at the impact of the brush and her frame falling into him. She was heavier than she looked, but luckily only the roller had hit him and not the metal handle.

The girl started babbling apologies almost immediately, and the hooded figure doubled over in delirious laughter.

“I'm so sorry! I-” she reached out to wipe paint off of him and he swatted her hand away.

“Don't touch me.” He said plainly and wiped some paint from his face, shaking it from his hand. He glared at who could only be Atem, who was laughing. He had his hand over his face, still obscuring any definite sign that it was indeed _that_ Atem. Kaiba stepped toward him, keeping his voice even, “What's so funny?”

The hand was quickly dropped from his face and violet eyes stared back in uncertainty.

“Thank you for catching me.” The girl quickly squeaked from behind Kaiba.

Atem straightened up and nodded, “Yes. Thank you, Mr. Kaiba.”

The voice was unmistakable, but being addressed formally by someone who had never done so before was disconcerting. Kaiba remained cool, however, “I don't think you should be letting little girls work at such heights with heavy equipment.”

“She's more than capable.” Atem snapped back quickly, crossing his arms over his chest and glared, “Besides, everyone's little to someone like you.” The tone wasn't malicious, but failed to mask the insult.

Kaiba smirked, “Don't you know it's rude to wear a hood in front of the CEO of a company?”

Atem yanked down the hood, revealing red-tipped spikes pulled back into a ponytail, “Don't you know it's rude to show up unannounced?”

Atem looked different. His skin was darker, that much Kaiba had already discerned from his exposed arms. He had tattoos, as already noted, and his muscles weren’t as clean cut as they had once been. His eyes appeared smaller without eyeliner, but he had naturally long lashes to give half of the effect. He had bags under them, and the corners of his eyes were red like he hadn't slept enough. His hair was a lot less immaculate, with strands sticking out from the ponytail and split ends evident in his blonde bangs. He looked tired, or sad. It definitely wasn’t the Atem-esque look Kaiba had been accustomed to, but it was definitely still him.

“Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?” Atem asked blandly.

“So you've found a new hobby.” Kaiba stated blankly.

“A full time job as a freelancing artist, actually.” Atem said, as if insulted, and returned to mixing the the clear liquid that had already started to separate itself.

“As a freelancer.”

“Yep.” Atem pulled the handle so hard a bit of the mixture sloshed over the side.

Kaiba turned to the wall, admiring the fade of the colors. The other two standing by awkwardly, obviously uncertain about what to do with themselves.

Kaiba felt the paint hardening in his hair, which was where most of it had hit him and he now acknowledged the ringing in his ears. He had to leave as soon as possible. He turned to the two and held out his clean hand politely.

“Seto Kaiba. Chief Executive Officer of Kaiba Corporation. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He said smoothly. He heard Atem scoff lightly and clenched his jaw at the sound.

The girl took his hand, bowing her head slightly, “I'm Kwon Hye-Ja.”

“She goes by Keiko here.” Atem cut in.

“I like the Japanese pronunciation of the characters better.” she explained quickly.

The older man waved from behind her awkwardly, “I'm Syo.”

Kaiba crossed his arms across his chest. He didn't actually mind that none of these three were using proper social etiquette, but it was a strange thing to witness. Everyone was always so stiff and professional around Seto Kaiba. At least the Korean girl seemed to have some frame of reference for politeness, but “Syo” definitely didn't have a clue, and Atem obviously didn't care at the moment.

Kaiba nodded stiffly, “I'll leave you to your work.” and turned around and left. He had seen all he needed and now he had to wash up, ignore the ringing in his ears, and hire a new secretary. That was it. Done. He'd tell the owner to release mandatory hours and would not involve himself in Atem's life any longer. Especially if those were the people Atem decided to hire. He wanted nothing to do with another group of idiots.

But the mural was already coming along beautifully, and so far it was only a blend of three colors. Surely they weren’t incapable, but that was left to be seen with how it came along.

It was discomforting how much Atem’s appearance had changed. He no longer looked a thing like Yugi Mutou.

Kaiba took off his jacket and hung it over his arm and tried to look unbothered despite the dry paint sticking in his hair as he approached the barrier.

“M-Mr. Kaiba what happened?” The officer looked excessively concerned.

Kaiba forced a smile, “The artists spilled some paint. Nothing of concern. Accidents happen.” He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

He walked past simply and returned to the car that was still waiting for him. As he took a seat, he recalled how Atem had jumped to defend Keiko. There was probably a reason he had hired her, Kaiba supposed. Then again he was friends with Joey Wheeler and the rest, so really how much could he trust Atem's judgement?

 

Atem tried to focus on mixing the varnish, knowing well that it was ready to pour into the barrel with the pressure hose extension, a cheap version of an industrial airbrush. The varnish had been diluted so it would protect the backdrop but stick with future coats of paint. He observed Keiko and Syo out of his peripheral vision, silently praying they wouldn't receive the wrath of Kaiba Corporation. Kaiba was hard to read - he hadn't berated them but maybe that was to save face. He was always the kind to cut down strangers on paper. He cared to do so in person for very few, and it seemed Atem was no longer one of them.

He had foolishly almost tried to egg the CEO on just to get a reaction out of him. Kaiba seemed to love attention, so Atem purposely ignored him. He threw insults back at Kaiba with enough subtlety for him to notice. Atem tried not to think about the way Kaiba had looked at him. On the surface it looked like an emotionless stare, but there was definitely something there. Maybe pity. Atem knew he wasn’t looking his best these days.

“I think we're done.” Syo said, a hint of fear plain in his voice.

Atem nodded, “Help me pour this in.”

“You're not going to fire me are you?” Keiko asked, trying to sound casual which only gave the question more weight.

Atem shook his head, “If I can help it, nothing will happen. Plans won't change.”

“Did you know Seto Kaiba was coming by?” Syo asked.

“If I did I would've warned you.” Atem said, lifting the bucket of varnish from the bottom in unison with Syo.

Keiko rushed to hold the barrel still until it filled enough not to move. She then busied herself removing the ladders and supplies from the immediate area in front of the painted wall. They covered it in a thin layer of diluted varnish and helped each other pack everything up.

Syo left first to head to another job he was working that day and Keiko and Atem wheeled the last two carts back into the garage together.

Keiko shyly spoke up as they lined the carts against the wall, “Mr. Muran, ah, I mean, Atem,” she turned to face him, “If you get in trouble for my mistake I take full responsibility for today. I don't care if I...lose this job...I should've-”

“Keiko,” Atem put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, “We're a team.”

“Do you know Seto Kaiba personally?” She looked at Atem quizzically all of a sudden, “You were fighting like I do sometimes with my friends.”

Atem frowned, “At one point I guess.”

“That's cool. But sad, I suppose, if you aren't friends anymore.”

Atem nodded, “Yeah…hey, don’t feel uncomfortable talking casually. I enjoy it, and besides it will help us work better as a team.”

“It's just…”

“Well...if it’s easier or more comfortable to be formal then I won't stop you. But please choose one.” Atem gave her a smile and she nodded, “You've already been dismissed for today. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Muran.” She gave a half bow, which Atem returned, and she left.

Atem closed the garage door and headed back through the store. Reo quickly grabbed his attention before he could leave.

“Are you done for the day?”

“Yes. I figured we'd keep the first session short to see how much we could get done. We've finished the backdrop and we'll continue tomorrow morning.”

“Ah. Wonderful. Um. Did Seto Kaiba stop by?”

Atem hesitated, “...Yes. You knew he'd stop by?”

“Oh no, he blocked off the street so I wondered if he would check in on the mural.”

An obvious lie.

Atem faked a nervous smile, “Yes well we spilled some paint over his head by accident.”

“W-wh-”

“Ah but he was a good man about it. He was polite and then left.”

“What did he say??” Reo asked nervously.

It took all of Atem's energy not to grin, “Now that I think about it,  afterwards he didn't actually say anything. He just...left.”

A lie, but for the sake of Keiko he would keep quiet about the events, and other than that all he had done was introduce himself - something Kaiba should've started off with instead of sneaking up on him. The way Kaiba had first approached him was borderline creepy had it been a stranger.

“Have a nice day, Reo,” Atem innocently smiled and gave a shallow bow, “I will see you tomorrow.” He quickly ducked out the door before Reo could ask any more questions.

He clutched his bag tightly. Kaiba hadn't even hesitated to catch Keiko when she fell. It would've probably been gruesome if he hadn't, and Atem would never doubt he would, but it had been instantaneous. Maybe he was reading into it too much. Saving someone from physical harm was different than acting out of genuine care for another. She was, however, only a year older than Mokuba, but maybe that was just coincidence.

He wondered if the brothers were still close these days. He supposed he had seen them together plenty in various media outlets as he ducked down the alleyway he had came in from. He'd have to be a bit more mindful coming out on the other side since it was now afternoon. It was much easier to disappear into an alleyway unnoticed than to appear out of one. He made it alright, and the walk back to the apartment was uneventful.

The sight of his sheets hanging over the railing reminded him of the night before. Today he had talk to Kaiba, after waking up after masturbating about having sex with Kaiba. Very intensely. Shame glowed red on his face as his feet thumped up the dusty metal steps.

He brushed his hand over the comforter, unsurprised it still needed time to dry, and grabbed his keys from his bag and went inside. He locked the door behind him and sunk to the floor, shoving his hand into his pants.

He wrapped his hand around his erection and started pumping it needily as it hardened painfully. His breaths were shallow and his eyelids drooped lustfully as he imagined Kaiba's glare, and the paint replaced with cum dripping down his sculpted face. That long blank stare replaced with a look of intense lust. Atem shoved rational thought into the back of his mind while massaging his thumb across the head of his penis as he stroked his shaft rhythmically. He wanted to cum onto Seto Kaiba's face, and be commanded to do so by Kaiba’s smooth voice.

“I'm going to cum…” Atem whispered feverishly aloud, “Please let me cum…”

He teetered on the edge and remained there. His eyes started to water as he pulled his pants to his knees with one hand. He sped up and covered his own mouth to quiet himself and stop himself from saying anything degrading out loud.

If only he remembered the way Kaiba used to say his name - he had only called him “Mr. Muran” when they had seen each other today.

If only Kaiba had asked him to shake his hand maybe he could more vividly image it wrapped around his-

And that thought finally made Atem cum. He threw his head back against the door and sighed as his ears rung. His body hummed with relief and anxiety. A strange mixture.

His sexuality suddenly dawned on him, full force. He wasn't straight. He was lusting about Seto Kaiba. A man. A gorgeous man who was beautiful even with orange paint dripping from his hair. Who had a venomous tongue and was going to make his life a living hell from now on - in his professional life or in his pants, the latter whether the former happened or not. It felt so good to imagine Kaiba fucking him.

Atem sorted himself out and sat down and stared at the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon painting on his wall, hoping Kaiba was going to keep coming around to check up on the mural. Would a month of bi-weekly visits be enough time to seduce him? Probably not.

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave your thoughts and any (constructive) criticisms below!

**Next chapter update:** **May 4th**

Updates every other Friday!!!

~ James


	4. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

The sun had disappeared behind the horizon and only the glow of the television lit the room. Yugi laid his head in Atem’s lap, his eyes fixed on the screen as Atem ambiently played with his hair. Yugi seemed oddly stiff and alert, not falling asleep or even relaxing under Atem’s soft attention. Atem intertwined his fingers into the red-tipped spikes, massaging Yugi’s scalp gently in hopes of calming him at all, but for some reason Yugi was practically ignoring it. His expression was pensive, even as a cheerful ad for baby food played before his eyes. Atem finally had enough. Yugi was never like this, or so resolute in silence if something was bothering him.

“What’s wrong Aibou?” Atem sighed, burying his face in the smaller man’s hair affectionately.

Yugi flinched away and Atem immediately sat upright, feeling a bit hurt.

“I have to ask you something…” Yugi _sounded_ hurt.

Atem’s mouth went dry and he hesitated briefly, “...you know you can ask me anything, aibou.”

Atem suddenly felt like he was speaking from a script, as he watched Yugi anxiously curl into himself, looking down at the floor.

“You’ve been...isolating yourself a lot recently. You’ve stopped actually talking to me. You almost always turn down invitations to hang out and leave the house, you rarely even come down to play games with Joey and Tristan...Tea visited last week and she only saw you once...”

“...That’s not really a-”

“I made you go get groceries yesterday and I know it might be an invasion of your privacy but I went through your computer,” Yugi now looked up at Atem, “Atem, are you planning on leaving?”

Atem froze up, feeling his chest constrict painfully, “No...wait...I know what happens next-”

Yugi sat up and hugged himself, slowly beginning to cry. Atem stood up and crossed the room to the door. The bell above the door rung and fell to the floor with a deafening _clang_ which shook Atem further as Yugi loudly sobbed behind him. He felt something pulling him back as the door swung open and closed, and reached forward and grabbed the handle to slam it shut. He held it shut for a moment as silence settled over him and something felt terribly wrong.

It was light out now, the sun was almost in the middle of the sky. Atem tried to calm himself but something made him feel uneasy but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He wandered out into the empty street and looked toward the Kaiba Corporation tower peaking out above all the other buildings. A chill breeze washed over him and he heard a revving engine and the sound of squeaking brakes directly beside him. He stumbled over at the sound, seeing a black car stop just centimeters beside him. The door swung open and a tall figure stepped out.

Seto Kaiba slammed the car door and frowned down at him, “How’s your project coming along, _Mr. Muran_?” He asked sarcastically, towering over Atem.

“What’s happening?” Atem asked timidly, feeling his heart race in panic. He clutched at his chest, blinking rapidly. Gradually smoke filled his vision and the scene turned into a basement he only vaguely remembered, and a face he could not put a name to sat across from him. The scent of soap filled his nose. It was suffocating, it literally felt like he was being suffocated. The man spoke but Atem couldn’t understand what he was saying. The smoke became a solid cloud, strangling him.

Atem jolted awake, wheezing into the sheets, finding his comforter had become wrapped around his head and the weight of his body was causing it to choke him. He struggled blindly with it for a moment before he freed himself and promptly fell off the bed, hitting his head on the floor.

“Fuck!” He he yelled bitterly and collapsed where he was, holding his head as it throbbed painfully in the darkness of his lonely apartment. The sun wasn’t even up yet and he had just woken up from a strange, upsetting nightmare.

He worked slowly to steady his breathing, taking in the cool darkness of the room and reminding himself it was a dream. He massaged his head gently, leaning against the bed frame on the floor. Once he had calmed his body back down to reality, he got up and fumbled for the light switch. The dim yellow light blinked on and he picked up his tablet off the counter, tapping it and checking the time. It was only 2am. He had hoped going to bed early would have given him a good start in the morning, but it had not. He needed to calm down before he would try to sleep again.

He set up a canvas on the easel in the corner, and began messily squeezing paint onto a worn wooden palette. He dabbed a large brush into the red and purple, messily covering the canvas in uneven strokes, the colors mixing more as he drew closer to the bottom. He painted quickly, and ran the brush over the edges to soften them. He rinsed the brush in the sink as he waited for it to dry, and impatiently started with a smaller brush and white paint, creating oval shapes of varying sizes across the canvas. He held the handle of the white-tipped brush between his teeth and grabbed another, dipping it into various colors and decorating the white oval shapes with circles looking every which way. He moved onto creating veins and outlines without cleaning the brush, returning to the white brush to add white strokes of detail and white pupils on some of the eyes.

Atem discarded his tools in the sink and stared at the messy painting. The painted eyes seemed to squint back at him with horrible delight. He shut his eyes and opened them again, stepping closer to it, willing to bring some other nightmare into his head. The image was familiar enough, he could imagine the shadow realm with his eyes closed. He could imagine the pain and suffering Marik and Bakura had spat in his face all of the times they had brought him there. The pain and suffering they had in turn caused his friends. But it was over and done with now, the memories were bearable at least.

Atem glared at the painting, willing himself not to feel anything as he forced the images back into his mind, trying to bury the others.

It wasn't any use.

Those memories involved Yugi, and remembering Yugi at all was painful. Yugi was _home_ and living alone in a shitty apartment felt nothing like it. It was horrifying how lucid the dream had been, like he was living that moment all over again, but instead of trying to change it his mind had sort of made it worse. And weird. He hadn’t tried to comfort Yugi, he freaked out and left. The bell fell off the door, which had scared the shit out of him. He almost got hit by a car. And Kaiba was there at the end, for some reason. Atem rubbed his temples in frustration.

Atem turned the easel around, not wanting to see the creepy floating eyes any longer. Trying to think of other terrible things was only piling onto how shitty he was feeling, and he didn’t even want to get into the ways he had used the shadow realm himself-

He sat on his bed and decided to think about the current problems he was facing, and let everything out. But as he stared at the ceiling he could only feel empty. He wanted to call Yugi and tell him how much he'd been missing him, and everything he’d been doing for the past three years, and ask about how Yugi had been all this time.

“He's always very forgiving…” Atem mumbled to himself, rubbing his face in his hands, “But never for no reason.”

“Aibou...are you still looking for me?”

 

Kaiba's eyes stared straight through the letters and numbers crossing the screen. Eventually they slowed to a stop as his eyes glazed over with sleepiness and the lack of motion jolted him awake. The numbers began moving again and Kaiba swiped his hand over the screen, knowing his brain was no longer active enough to think. Reviewing the math his AI had figured out for his project was mentally exhausting and he couldn't afford to get anything wrong. This technology was going to be plugged into people's brains. He didn't want any dead animals to precede human testing, either. This project had to have a squeaky clean background if he wanted it to succeed in the way he intended, and he'd settle for nothing less. So he was overseeing every last detail himself.

He leaned back in his chair to peer over at Mokuba. Mokuba was hunched over the desk with his face buried in his arms, visibly asleep. The younger brother had opted to help with smaller company duties, and had insisted after Kaiba hadn't brought him home for lunch. He had told Mokuba a meeting ran into lunch, which wasn't technically a lie. He was going to avoid the topic of Atem as long as the mural would slip under the kid’s nose, and pray that Mokuba never asked anything about Atem’s relation to the project specifically.

Kaiba was aware how much Mokuba missed Atem and the rest. Over the past few years he had witnessed Mokuba slowly give up asking to see them or trying to sneak out to do so. Luckily Mokuba seemed to make his own friends at his school, some that were actually his age. It was better this way. Kaiba reasoned that Mokuba wouldn't have seen the point in doing so if he hadn't been ex-communicated with the others. Which held truth, but Kaiba couldn't help feeling guilty for all the times they had fought about it, and how miserable Mokuba had been during the first year.

Kaiba stood and crossed the room, gently pushing Mokuba from the desk and lay him back into the chair. He adjusted the back of the seat down, so Mokuba would lay somewhat comfortably. Mokuba was getting too big to carry without waking him and had a substantial growth spurt over the past year. He'd be graduating high school at the end of the season, and Kaiba couldn't help feeling strangely old. He walked through the door connected to the next room, his bedroom, and grabbed a blanket from his closet before heading back into the office. He draped the blanket over his brother who was now snoring loudly. He briefly acknowledged that he may have coddled Mokuba for too long. The kid was smart, and tried his best to be independent, but still acted like a kid for the most part.

Kaiba glanced back over to the other desk, where the screens shone dimly and he rubbed his temples. He needed a break. He didn't care what time it was. He'd either come back tired enough to pass out or tired but sane enough to continue for a few more hours. He didn't have any morning appointments anyway.

He didn't bother grabbing his coat and slipped out of the room as quietly as possible, knowing even if he hadn't Mokuba would probably remain asleep. The kid had school in the morning, though. He'd wait until he got back to wake him and force him to go to his bed, since Mokuba would be deep into his sleep cycle and too tired to fight him about it.

Kaiba’s footsteps echoed through the large house. The servants were always sent home after dinner and evening chores were finished, so the house was mostly empty. Isono was the only resident employee, but usually only stayed up late into the night under special circumstances per Kaiba's request. It seemed he wasn't up tonight, as usual. Kaiba made his way back to the glass doors leading into the garden. He put on the slippers sitting by the door before heading out.

The garden was expansive and covered most of the grounds. Sidewalks weaved through patches of flowers and trees and a large greenhouse sat in the center. The sky was still dark, but the waxing moon shone brightly among the stars. The flowers were in bloom and the scent of spring flowers floated on the soft breeze. It was hard to feel tense in such beautiful scenery, but Kaiba was managing to do just that. He dragged the slippers across the pavement, filling the silence with the ugly sound to keep his unpleasant mood. The fresh air was usually good to clear his head, but he only found his mind buried in thought.

He was...frustrated. With himself. He couldn't quite place his finger on the feeling, but something about the way Atem had looked had set him off. Atem now looked like a fucking delinquent, tattoos and all. Kaiba didn't even know Atem _could_ pull that absurd hairstyle into a ponytail. His arms had become soft, he seemed a bit frail without the muscle mass. His eyes were strange without eyeliner caked on, but his tan surely made him look a lot more Egyptian. Atem now just looked like the poster boy for a campaign against illegal immigrants, but strangely still as handsome as ever.

Kaiba pushed a small amount of loose dirt off the path with the edge of his shoe. He ran through his thoughts again. Atem had really set himself apart from Yugi Mutou. He looked nothing like him, didn't seem to be dueling publicly anymore, and in fact had a whole new outlet he was fairly popular in - popular enough to be commissioned for a public piece of art.

Atem wasn't blind or stupid - it was obvious now that he wasn't Yugi. He had tattoos, tan skin, was skilled in a new trade, was recognized by a chosen name. As far as Kaiba knew he wasn't actually registered as a citizen, but “foreigners” were rarely put on the main database for reasons that were fundamentally racist, and Atem was Egyptian. Ancient Egyptian. Kaiba snickered to himself.

He could easily hack into the full database and check, but it was more trouble than it was probably worth. Besides, he knew Atem was still around, and where he could find him, at least twice a week. Kaiba had originally suspected that Atem was hiding to prevent a mix up between his and Yugi’s identities, but looking at him now, that wasn’t plausible. Kaiba hadn't yet called to drop Atem's mandatory hours and now he had a new question to ask Atem directly:

Why _are_ you hiding?

 

Atem was startled awake by his internal clock, feeling the first suggestion of sunlight through the blinds. He didn’t remember falling asleep again, but it seemed he had gotten some calm, dreamless sleep after wallowing in his bed for long enough. He silently thanked the Gods for the rest and set about getting ready. He sat down with some toast and unplugged his phone from the charger. His inbox was blown up with messages from Keiko and Reo. Reo was pestering him about what he’d said about the incident with Kaiba and Keiko was asking for him to let her know when he was heading out.

Atem bit his lip nervously and replied to Reo first.

> **You:** I already told you what happened

Yami deleted and rewrote another message several times before deciding to leave it. If Kaiba Corporation brought down repercussions for the accident then he was screwed anyway.

He flipped over to Keiko’s messages.

> **You:** I should be heading out in about half an hour
> 
> **You:** It’s about an hour’s trip from where I am
> 
> **Keiko:** Okay, I’ll be there early and get everything set up!

Atem sighed, thinking of telling her she didn’t have to do that, but figured it was her way of making up for the incident the day before and he left it alone. He shot a message to Syo about when he would be at the site and mentioned that Keiko would be there early to start setting up and then put the phone down and took a shower.

As the lukewarm water rushed over him, his thoughts settled on Kaiba. He’d forgotten how tall that guy really was in person and looked up at the shower head, imagining the height difference. He lathered his body with soap and tried not to think too hard about imagining Kaiba actually being with him, there, in the shower.

 _I am_ Not _going to masturbate about him every damn time I think about him._

He rinsed off the suds and shut off the water quickly, before he could get too hot and bothered. This time he’d put a towel within reach from the doorway. Despite the bad dream, he was already having a much better start than the day before.

He put on practically the same outfit he’d worn the day before, just a different set of clothes with the same sleeveless hoodie. He grabbed his bag and headed out. The world passed by, transforming from his shitty little slice of the world into the crisp, clean city of Domino. He accidentally bumped into one of the garbage bots that made rounds on the sidewalk, which apologized to him in a robotic voice, and then began correcting its path only to bump into him again and again, apologizing each time. He briefly played with the idea that Kaiba had programmed it to harass him as another bot passed by, correcting its path flawlessly while the original kept bumping into him.

Atem grabbed the bot by the top, and a robotic voice immediately began issuing warnings about being property of Kaiba Corporation, how he could be fined for vandalism of the company’s property, and who to contact to report an issue. A few passerbys gave him funny looks and he ducked into a alleyway with the robot before an officer would see him. He let go of the bot so it would shut up, and it proceeded to repeatedly smack itself into the wall and apologize each time. Atem doubted Kaiba would waste time on such a small prank, and it seemed to genuinely be malfunctioning. He debated reporting the issue. Someone else would find this one eventually, and if Kaiba caught word that Atem reported a malfunction he’d probably think it was a joke and Atem didn’t need another strike with Kaiba. His goal was already impossible without _any_ strikes and Kaiba had previously shut him out. He didn’t want to ruin his odds even more. He wasn’t even sure Kaiba was interested in men.

Atem wandered out into the street and purposely bumped into the next bot he found, to find that it began to do the same thing. He swallowed his pride and wandered off to find an officer. There was a bigger issue if more than one of the robots were doing it, Atem couldn’t just leave it alone. It was easy not to bump into the bots, and they were lightweight, so it probably wasn’t a matter of public safety, but he felt obliged to make sure Kaiba’s company knew before too many started going haywire.

He got nervous traveling into a busier area; for some reason there didn’t seem to be an officer nearby. He then found out why. A group of officers were making their way down the street next to a truck with the Kaiba Corp logo on the side of it. He watched as an officer picked up one of the small bots and reached underneath to shut it off. He handed it off to another that climbed into the back of the truck and came out without it. Atem internally panicked, remembering he had stupidly brought one down into an alleyway. He tried not to call attention to himself as he hurriedly backtracked.

Of course Kaiba Corporation would already be aware of the issue. Kaiba ran the most technologically advanced company in the _world._ Things like this were usually swept under the rug before anyone even noticed _._ Sometimes Kaiba would release statements on things the general public didn’t even know had happened. He was extremely responsible for everything created under his name, and that’s why the citizens of Domino trusted him so much, and why the city sat in the palm of his hand. That, and probably the technology that improved lives and the money.

Atem ducked down into the alley and slid the bot back onto the sidewalk and it started in the direction he had come back from. He hurried on his way, noticing most of the other bots on his way were also heading that direction. Their routes must have been remotely changed so they could be picked up before the lunch crowd flooded the streets and took notice. Kaiba would probably make a statement once they were all collected to account for the absence and say some encouraging thing about taking responsibility for the cleanliness of the city until they are replaced. Mid-broadcast they would probably already be replaced and Kaiba would make a big show to praise his engineers. It would go down something like that. It always did.

The rest of his travel was uneventful. The street was buzzing with the usual morning crowd today, the roads were not blocked off this time. He walked quickly to make up for the holdup, and didn’t bother with the front door. He dreaded confrontation with Reo in the case that anything _had_ happened with Kaiba. He headed around the side to find Keiko and Syo lightly sketching on the wall with chalk.

“Good morning.” Atem greeted nervously.

“Oh! Mr. Muran!” Keiko wobbled but immediately steadied herself on the ladder, “Good morning! I hope it’s alright that we started sketching it out. We ran out of stuff to do.”

“It’s fine,” Atem replied, taking off his bag and pulling out the gridded copy of the art piece. He looked it over and glanced at the wall, ignoring the nervous look from Keiko. Syo quickly went back to work. So far it seemed close enough to scale and Atem grabbed some chalk and motioned to the wall, trying to signal Keiko to continue. She seemed to get it, and resumed with light strokes around the face of the third dragon head. Atem climbed up onto the ladder and referred to the grid to place guiding dots and lines for the outline of the image. The three of them made quick work of this, and soon began laying down a base of silver paint over the dragon’s silhouette.

They were working on the last layer as people really began to flood the street. Many would stop and stare. Atem could feel their eyes burning into them, and was vaguely aware most of them were directing their gaze at him and his coworkers. They weren’t typical Japanese citizens, after all, and were all covered in spots of paint and dressed like...well, artists. Keiko was the best dressed out of them, and she was wearing khaki overalls coated in various splotches of paint. The edges were frayed and it was very baggy over her tight orange t-shirt. Currently she also still had chalk on her face.

Atem avoided the eyes of the passerbys, ignoring comments and letting Keiko answer most of the questions the people who were genuinely interested bothered to ask. She was better with it, and seemed determined to make a good impression, so Atem was more than happy to leave it to her. Besides, most people were intimidated by his looks and voice when he did speak up. Syo hugged the edge of the wall farther away from the crowds and kept his face hidden as much as he could. Atem knew only the teens would bother insulting him in broad daylight, but understood Syo’s discomfort - for entirely different reasons. He could care less if someone insulted him for his looks.

“Oh wow I didn’t know someone was...painting something here.”

The voice was familiar, and the tone seemed a bit sad. Atem kept his mouth shut, keeping his strokes even on the paint as his grip on the handle became painful.

“Ah! Yugi Mutou! Yes, it’s to celebrate new administration at this shop! You can see the original image online if you just look at _Game Begin’s_ website!” Keiko chimed enthusiastically.

Atem stiffly leaned down and dipped the large brush into the bucket of paint and worked over the same area, hoping he’d have an audible cue when Yugi left.

“Ah…” Yugi muttered, and Atem could hear his shuffling on his feet the way he always had when he was nervous, “U-um. How much are they paying you?”

Atem felt like he’d snap the brush in half if the handle weren’t so thick. He wanted to pull his hood down further but the action would be suspicious.

“Ah…” Keiko mumbled, “Mr. Muran, am I allowed to disclose that information?”

Atem hesitated, realizing she had called him by his last name. It was lucky she had decided to address him formally. As long as Yugi didn’t recognize his voice he’d pass by unnoticed.

“It should be fine.” He replied in a chipper tone of voice, hoping it was enough to throw Yugi off the scent.

“We’re all splitting ¥900,000 evenly between the three of us for this project. I know you run a game shop, maybe you could hire Mr. Muran to spruce it up too!”

“A-ah...I s-see…” Yugi stuttered in reply, “Um. Thank you.”

Atem knew it wasn’t an expense Yugi could afford, and he felt sympathetic. He glanced to see Yugi beginning to walk away. He dropped his brush into the bucket and dove for his bag.

“What are you doing?” Keiko asked as she climbed down and stood beside him.

Atem dug out a business card from his wallet and handed it to her, “Go give this to him.”

“But he already left-”

“He shouldn’t be far.”

“Are you a fan-”

“Go!” Atem shouted louder than he meant to. She immediately ran off, card in hand. Atem could feel his heart hammering nervously in his throat, wondering if Yugi would come back immediately after reading the card. Syo was looking at him strangely and Atem hurried back to work, finding his hands shaking uncontrollably.

Keiko came back shortly, huffing a bit, “He said...he’ll...call...later.”

Atem’s heart leaped, “Alright.”

Keiko caught her breath, “He’s sorry he’s too busy right now to come back and talk with you.”

Atem nodded, finding a nervous smile pulling at his lips.

“What’s with you and famous people, huh? You know Yugi Mutou too?”

Atem frowned, “We were very close.”

“Oh. Did something happen?”

Atem looked over at her and motioned impatiently at the wall. She jumped and got back to work. He didn’t say another word, and she stopped asking questions. Syo worked in resolute silence the whole time, and Atem was thankful the man was tactful enough not to pry into the conversation.

The three soon finished the final coat and sprayed it delicately with protective varnish and put everything away. Syo didn’t stick around, but Keiko hovered as Atem put himself together and braced himself to go face Reo to tell him they were finished for the day.

“Are you mad at me?” Keiko asked quickly, “I’m sorry for prying into your personal life, I wasn’t thinking, I deeply apologize.”

Atem sighed and rubbed his forehead, “It’s fine, Keiko.”

“I’m sorry if it brought up painful memories, Yugi looked really shocked when he looked at the business card, and really nervous when he said he’d call later. He seemed to want to ask questions but he had to go.”

Atem’s stomach did a somersault, “I’d rather not…”

“You’d rather not talk about it. Got it. I shouldn’t be prying into the personal matters of my boss anyway, I’m sorry I’m just...a big fan of Yugi Mutou, and Seto Kaiba, so I’m sorry I’ve been so curious, it’s no excuse I-”

“It’s fine. Really.” Atem said, feeling his head spinning nervously. He was trying to work up the courage to talk to Reo and he really couldn’t handle this conversation, “You’re dismissed, I’ll see you again tomorrow morning.”

“S-see you.” Keiko replied timidly and hurried off.

“Strange girl…” Atem sighed and made his way inside the shop through the back. Someone else was at the counter helping customers.

“Hey, is Reo here?” He asked after the cashier finished helping a customer.

“Yeah, he’s in back.”

Atem slipped behind the counter and into the back room. Reo was sitting at the table back there and immediately sat up, “Are you finished for today?”

“Yeah, we packed and locked everything up.”

“Great, then you’re all done here.”

Atem nodded and hesitated, knowing what he was about to say could be considered suspicious. He said it anyway, “Did Seto Kaiba contact you?”

“Not today…”

Atem noticed a perfect way to derail the suspicion, “Oh. I was curious if he would contact you again about my hours.” Atem tried to look casual by inspecting his nails, “I suppose he can only spare so much time to check on my work.”

“No updates to your schedule I’ve heard about,” Reo replied, obviously trying to sound just as casual.

Atem smiled, keeping it polite and hiding the the smugness he actually felt hearing Reo admit that Kaiba had intervened, “We’ll be sure to do our best the next time he comes around. Have a good afternoon, Reo.”

“Y-you as well.”

Atem turned and left. He would have felt a bit bad toying with the Reo he had originally met, but this teasing was a mostly harmless punishment for insisting on lying to him. He knew Reo was in a tricky position, trying to keep in Kaiba’s favor and impress him, and probably thought Atem would be angry his hours were being changed by someone other than his employer. Kaiba may have even sworn Reo to secrecy about it in the hopes Atem wouldn’t notice. Well, joke was on both of them. Atem was smarter than that, and nothing Reo could do would ever impress Seto Kaiba or keep him in Kaiba’s favor permanently.

“Did he say he wouldn’t waste his time talking to me?” Atem mumbled under his breath, letting the buzz of the people on the street drown him out. He smiled to himself. Kaiba _had_ talked to him again. Atem had won. And he was going to squeeze more words out of the handsome bastard’s throat even if Kaiba killed him in the process.

Atem pulled out his phone and stared at the home screen nervously, remembering that Yugi was going to call him later. How much later? He’d stay up all night if Yugi left him hanging. He’d be justified to leave him hanging until the end of time, but Atem didn’t know if he could stand that. A garbage bot swished past him so seamlessly he barely noticed. He blinked and recalled the events that happened earlier.

He found himself smiling a little. Kaiba was nothing if not timely. And brilliant. And handsome. Had he missed the public statement? Probably. Plenty of Kaiba Corporation ads played on the screens across the city throughout the day; it was easy to drown them out and he had been in his own world the entire time he’d been working.

He just had to get through the next morning, then Friday night and Saturday would be his to do as he wanted. Things would change, however, depending on how things went with Yugi.

He arrived home and immediately felt his hands itching nervously after shutting the door behind him. He threw his bag on the bed and sat at the table, looking through his phone. He’d received a few emails about recent purchases from his store, and set about digging the pieces from the stack to prepare them for shipment to keep himself busy. His anxiety was at an all-time high, and he wanted to get high to take his mind off of it.

“It’s a bad idea,” He hummed quietly to himself as he wrapped a painted canvas in paper and slipped it into a large shipping envelope. He neatly wrote the address and name of the customer in the corner. He set the envelope on top of the stack and prepared another, trying to stop his hands from shaking through willpower alone. The address he wrote on this one was much less neatly written. He placed it on top.

“Fuck it,”Atem mumbled to himself, reaching under the bed and pulling out the lock box. He opened it and pulled out the small, decorated pipe and the pill bottle full of plant. He packed the bowl of the pipe and fished a lighter from the drawer beside the sink. He put everything else away and made sure to put the ringer volume on his phone all the way up.

It wasn’t like he was planning on getting completely stoned, he just wanted enough to chill out. He leaned against the counter and flicked the lighter, sucking in warm air through the pipe. He held his breath, feeling the heat burn in his throat, and exhaled with a cough. He grabbed a fork and used a prong to push the bowl around to loosen it to make it easier to suck air through the pipe. He took another pull, exhaling quickly, and another without lighting it, watching the fire reignite with his breath and the heat in a soft amber glow. This burned his throat, but it was a pleasant kind of pain. He puffed out a few clouds of smoke and then exhaled through his nose, watching two thin streams of smoke trail down from his face and float back up.

He smiled, feeling like a dragon. He tried to bring the fire back to life a second time, but the effort stung his throat. He gave up and used the lighter. He took a few more pulls and then cleaned up. His body buzzed with calm and warmth, he made a sandwich, and then settled down on his bed and watched videos online until the sun set.

The ring of his phone startled him. He had sobered up significantly over the passing hours and the ringing immediately returned the anxiety he had aimed to avoid. He picked up his phone and recognized Yugi’s number. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the green answer button.

“Hello, Atemu Muran speaking.” He said, trying to keep his tone even.

A moment of silence passed before the other side spoke, “ _...Atem?_ ”

“Hi...Yugi,” Atem exhaled shakily.

“ _I-it's so nice to hear from you,_ ” Yugi sounded like he was about to cry, “ _How have you been? What have you been doing? Where did you go?_ "

“I um,” Atem glanced around the room, “I got my own apartment...I work as an artist...I've been...alright.”

“ _It's so nice to hear your voice,_ ” Yugi was crying now, “ _I_ _t's been so long I missed you so much I'm so glad it's you._ ”

Atem felt his heart drop to his feet listened as Yugi openly started sobbing on the other end of the phone and sputtering words incoherently. Atem never meant to shut Yugi out. It just sort of...happened, and he just let it keep happening. He glanced over the stack of paintings and remembered all the ones he had never sent to Yugi, claiming they weren't good enough. Really, he just felt he had waited too long, and didn't have the guts to face him anymore.

 _“Can I see you?”_ Yugi choked out, " _I_ _want to talk to you...in_ _person._ "

“Okay.” Atem replied numbly.

_“Okay?”_

“Yeah I’ll...send you my address.” Atem glanced around the room, the lingering scent of weed suddenly seemed overpowering. He was embarrassed about how he lived, but there was no way in hell he was going to risk running into anyone else. Joey or Tristan would probably punch him on sight and ask questions later.

_“Okay...Atem?”_

“Yes?”

_“Everyone misses you.”_

“I miss them too. Come alone.” Atem said, and immediately hung up.

He rubbed his hand across his face, finding it wet with tears. He hugged himself as his whole chest heaved. He wanted to see Yugi badly, and hold him. It was hard to forgot what Yugi sounded like, he appeared on television all the time, and commercials online. But it was different to talk to him directly, and especially to hear him cry.

Atem collapsed into his pillows, trying to stop his crying. This was all his fault anyway. How had the time passed into years? It somehow felt like he could come home tomorrow and it would have only been a week since he’d been gone, but that wasn’t true at all.

Atem pulled the covers over his head and buried his face into the pillows. He knew he was getting what he wanted, but it still didn’t feel right.

Finally, he was found.

 

* * *

**Author’s Note:**

So I’m sorry if this totally bums you out, but things will get happier...soon!

Please let me know what you think! I love comments!! Let me know if you liked it! What you liked about it! If you cried! If you thought this was a boring and unnecessarily emotional chapter! Tell me how I can improve!

Keep in mind this is a slow burn, I promise Kaiba’s side of the equation will definitely pick up soon!

I’m going to start updating on Tuesdays! So next chapter will come sooner! I might start updating every week after that, since I want to finish this story before I go off to job corps...I probably won’t be able to do that...but I’ll try.

 **Next chapter update:** **May 15th**

~ James

**Edit: I'm so sorry I messed up! I thought the update was supposed to be on the 22nd not the 15th for some reason, I've been extremely busy and the days have just flown by for me without even much time to write at all, and I'm so sorry for the delay but I will have to increase the delay and the update will be going up on Friday the 25th.**


	5. Aspiring Fires

****Mokuba tapped his feet on the floor, well aware it would annoy his brother, “What happened to your old secretary?”

“I fired her.”

Mokuba leaned against the back of his chair and looked over Seto, who was focused on a screen in front of him, “Why? She seemed alright. She was a lot more fun than this one. Angela acts like a robot.”

“You only met Angela today. Besides, you only liked Amanda because she always brought you soda.”

Mokuba shrugged and resumed typing on his own screen. Mokuba often spent Sundays keeping his brother company in the office. Since there was still so much to do with Kaiba Corp’s upcoming project, Mokuba had been sacrificing a lot of his time to help out. It was true he’d only met the new secretary today, but he was already severely disappointed after the very first conversation. She had treated him like a kid instead of the seventeen year old genius he knew himself to be, and she seemed to have virtually no personality at all.

The door opened and said secretary walked in, holding a steaming cup of coffee. Mokuba kept his head down, pretending to be intensely interested in the paragraphs of legal jargon on his screen as Angela briefly exchanged emotionless conversation with his brother. Mokuba kept glancing up and spoke as soon as the door clicked behind her as she left.

“Are you slowly replacing the staff with robots? I wouldn’t put it past you.” He teased, throwing Seto a mischievous smile.

Seto smirked, “Of course. I am also actively fighting for automatonic civil rights under an alias online and pay all of my AI above a living wage so they can afford their penthouse apartments and organic vegan diets.”

Mokuba let out a startled laugh, “You really think AI would be vegan?”

“A lot of my employees are, and since I’ve replaced them all with automatons all they _can_ really ’eat,’ so to speak, is electricity. Unless they run on fossil fuels. But I would never be stupid enough to design something that runs on non renewable energy.” Kaiba replied casually, not moving his eyes away from the screen.

Mokuba scoffed, “You really take my jokes too seriously.”

“People _are_ afraid I _will_ replace them with artificial intelligence,” Seto replied matter-of-factly, “Which I won’t. I might be brilliant, but running a company entirely run by AI that I created would basically be like talking to myself 24/7.”

“Even you can’t handle listening to yourself talk that much,” Mokuba chided.

Seto grinned and replied smoothly, “I wouldn’t learn anything I don’t already know. The stupidity of others brings on a different perspective. Sometimes even one I can expand upon and make into something useful.”

Mokuba rolled his eyes, “Be careful, you’re starting to show that you value the lives of other people.”

“I never said they don’t have value. They’re just inefficient. Human error accounts for most of the mistakes on the lower floors.”

“I was being facetious. And we’re on the top floor.”

“So am I. That’s the point.”

Mokuba sat back in his seat, hitting send on an email to the department of commerce requesting a grant for animal testing with the new tech. It was going to set off a long train of contracts and they’d yet again have to be wary of attempts to exploit the company. He looked over and watched Seto’s eyes scan quickly over screens full of numbers and letters, every so often stopping to change something with a flick of his hand and send it off for review from a supercomputer in another area of the building.

Mokuba’s mouth went dry and he shuffled in his seat quietly. Kaiba pretended not to notice.

“Have you seen the game shop on 2nd street?” Mokuba asked cryptically, despite knowing his brother was probably going to pick up on what he wanted to say immediately. There was little his brother _didn't_ know.

Seto mistyped a number and backtracked, quickly replying, “Yes,” in a stiff tone.

Mokuba hovered his hands over his screen nervously, “You know they’re painting the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon? You really approved it?”

Kaiba wracked his memory, “Yes,” he replied without skipping a beat, supposing now it didn’t _really_ matter whether he did at first or not. He was letting it happen.

“I heard that…” Mokuba hesitated, “The painter’s name is Atem...do you think it’s…”

“It is.”

“Did you see him?” Mokuba asked, trying to hide his excitement, and failing almost entirely.

Kaiba tapped a little harder on the screen, even though it made no sound since the monitor was solid vision and not a physical object, “I did.”

“Really?”

Kaiba sighed, “I only saw him when I went to check on the mural. I’ll be stopping by again at lunch to ask about its progress. That’s the only reason we spoke.”

“Can I come?” Mokuba asked quickly, “You know I’m gonna go whether you let me or not, I can drive myself!”

Kaiba grit his teeth, “Not legally.”

“Pfft the rules don’t apply to us. At worst I’ll walk, it’s not far.”

“You’re not walking,” Kaiba snapped, immediately flashing back to all the times his brother had been kidnapped, even though he knew Mokuba had been younger back then. Besides that, they were famous, at the very least he’d be suffocated by paparazzi - and the idea of Mokuba walking the streets was discomforting, so Kaiba conceded because refusing only encouraged Mokuba more, “You’ll ride with me.”

“Really? You’ll let me see Atem?”

“I know you’re not going to give me a choice.”

“Yes!”

“I have a meeting in ten minutes, we’ll head out afterward.”

“Okay!” Mokuba replied cheerfully and resumed his work with a big smile on his face.

Kaiba rolled his eyes, but genuinely smiled for a moment before focusing back. It wasn’t like Mokuba was never happy or excited, but talking about Atem and not fighting was a pleasant change, and he was glad he hadn’t screwed it up.

 

Atem hummed quietly, wheeling out the supplies by himself. Keiko was going to be late and he had allowed Syo the same privilege. Besides, he wanted some quiet time to himself. His mind was buzzing, and from more than just the thoughts in his head.

It might have been a stupid idea, but he wanted to take the edge off the day. He smoked just enough to chill himself out and to quiet the panic in his mind. Which, under all the stress, admittedly took more than just a few hits.

Yugi had been texting him since the phone call. Atem couldn’t bring himself to answer anything, really. Mainly half-hearted replies saying that he’s been doing fine, that he’s been keeping himself busy. It felt true enough in the state he was in, but didn't seem to fly under the radar on Yugi's end. Yugi didn't believing him and was making it very clear in his messages. Atem just wanted to leave the line of conversation for Tuesday when they'd talk face to face again.

Today Kaiba would be stopping by to visit, as far as Atem suspected. Which was where the stupid part of getting high briefly came to mind. He just hoped instead of making things weird it would keep him calm and maybe even boost his confidence. He highly doubted it.

He hoped, as he anxiously watched people pass by on the street in his peripheral vision, that Kaiba would stop by while he was alone, so that maybe they could have a proper conversation - even though that seemed impossible anyway with someone like Seto Kaiba. And was probably even more impossible while slightly stoned. It was so much easier to fantasize about Kaiba than to talk to him in person.

Atem poured a dark greyish blue paint into a tub. The dragon had most of its details roughed out, so the shading had to be splotched on, then the highlights, and  then the outline needed to be cleaned up again before the shading and light could be cleaned again, the effects added and cleaned, before the entire piece could be cleaned up again. The easy part was over, but there was much tedious work yet to be done.

Atem pulled out his ponytail and began to pull his hair back again to redo it when he heard a voice beside him.

“Atem?”

Atem looked over, quickly wrapping the hair tie back around his spikes. He saw Mokuba looking at him cautiously and Kaiba standing behind him with his arms crossed, looking at the painting on the wall. Atem shrunk a little but Mokuba beamed.

“Hey! It’s Mokuba, don’t you recognize me?” Mokuba laughed with a big, welcoming smile. He seemed so happy to see him, “I almost don’t recognize you!”

Atem laughed, finding himself smiling back involuntarily, “I know who you are. It’s been a while, huh?” He said, trying to sound casual. Bodyguards lined the entrance to the side of the building, and what were probably paparazzi began gathering behind them.

Mokuba smirked and crossed his arms, “Cool tattoos.”

It was strange seeing Mokuba standing in front of him after so long. Sure, he appeared on TV basically as much as his brother, but seeing him in person was surreal. He had grown almost as tall as Kaiba, his voice had dropped significantly, and his demeanor was more energetic and confident than ever. His hair was short, but grew long in the back, similar to Kaiba- but was much less neat. His entire face had squared a bit, in contrast to the soft, round features Atem had seen him with when he was younger. Mokuba was sharply dressed, if not in a slightly tacky way, what with the contrasting colors of his suit. A lot had changed about him.

Atem held out his arm to let Mokuba examine the tattoos he had praised, “It took me two months to get the sleeve finished.”

Mokuba looked intently, “Did it hurt?”

“Only slightly,” Atem laughed nervously, remembering how stoned he was half the time when he came in to get the tattoos done. The sleeve was a mix of pure black designs and full color tattoos. It had looked very red and painful while it had been healing.

“I want to get a tattoo sometime!”

Kaiba scoffed and Mokuba turned to him, leaning in teasingly, “Maybe I could get the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Would you complain then?”

“The content of your tattoo isn’t what would bother me.” Kaiba said cynically.

Atem rubbed the back of his neck, “I uh, actually have a tattoo of Blue Eyes on my stomach. You can only see it when I take my shirt off.” Atem shrugged, and then immediately regretted it when the looks on both brothers faces changed in both very different ways.

Mokuba looked mischievous, “How big is the tattoo? Did it hurt a lot? I doubt as a professional I’d ever be taking off my shirt on camera.”

“You’d be surprised,” Kaiba said so quietly Atem almost didn’t catch it. He had a look on his face that Atem wasn’t sure how to read.

Atem hesitated, feeling himself get hot all over, unable to stop himself from picturing Kaiba shirtless, “W...Well it covers my stomach...um…it probably hurt a lot at the time, I don’t quite remember, but it was annoying while it was healing…”

“Can I see it?” Mokuba pressed.

Kaiba’s eyes burned into Atem, but he said nothing.

Atem felt himself grow even warmer, “That’s a bit...wouldn’t it be weird for me to just lift up my shirt in front of you?”

“You’re just showing a tattoo.” Kaiba interjected, the edges of his lips faintly curling in a strange way as he spoke.

“I need to get back to work,” Atem felt himself start to sweat under Kaiba’s intense gaze.

“Right.” Kaiba said quickly, and tore his eyes back to the wall, “It seems to be progressing well. I suppose the finished product will be much cleaner than this.”

Atem was taken aback by the swift change in tension. He felt a bit uneasy.

“The finished product will look like the one I painted on canvas,” Atem stated, pulling a wooden stick through the tub of paint he had poured, as it had begun to separate. Something to distract himself and tear his eyes away from Kaiba.

“Can I help?” Mokuba asked eagerly.

“Uh…” Atem looked over at Kaiba who was now giving him a threatening look, and looked at Mokuba who was looking at him with pleading eyes, “I guess...if Kaiba allows it.”

“We have places to be.” Kaiba stated firmly.

Mokuba rolled his eyes, “No, _you_ have places to be. I want to stay and help out. I’ve been locked up in that office for hours and you’re not even gonna be there half the time since most of your meetings are in the afternoon.”

“I told you we were only stopping by to check on the progress of the mural. You weren’t even supposed to come along.”

“I can do whatever I want. Stop acting like my dad and telling me what to do.”

Atem awkwardly put his head down and pretended the paint still needed to be mixed, which it didn’t.

“Fine. I need to speak with Atem first. Alone.”

“He doesn't need instructions to babysit me.” Mokuba complained.

Kaiba shook his head and waved him off, “I'm not worried about that.”

Mokuba huffed and walked a few steps away. Kaiba motioned for him to move further. Atem could feel the back of his neck burn nervously as Kaiba leaned over to speak to him.

“I'll leave my bodyguards here and they already know to let your...coworkers in. I do want to know something before I leave, _Pharaoh.”_

Atem swallowed, stiffening up to keep from visibly shivering at Kaiba calling him”Pharaoh” like that. He felt nervous, realizing how close Kaiba was, and could only focus on that. Both because it was wonderful torture and the paranoia that he still smelled like pot.

“Why are you hiding your identity? There are virtually no pictures of you online. It's not like you look anything like Yugi anymore.”

Atem gripped the handle of the stirrer so hard the wood of it audibly strained. He forced himself to relax and pushed his bangs out of his face, “It's a long story.”

Kaiba straightened up, “I'm assuming it's some idiotic drama. If it is, then I'm not interested in hearing it. Judging by your reaction, it is.”

“I…”

“Save it. What you do isn't my business. I was hoping it was a simple answer, but if not, then I'm not interested.”

Atem's knuckles were white around the stick. This was really unfair. He had looked into it if he concluded that Atem had _no_ pictures online of his current look. He obviously cared a little. Then he brought it up just to drop it.

_Why do I like this guy again?_

Kaiba turned to look over at Mokuba and spoke to him, “Let me know if you go anywhere else after this. Call a driver.”

Silence hung in the air, besides the bustle of the streets beyond and the paparazzi really beginning to build behind the wall of bodyguards. Kaiba turned and left, escorted by a pair of suited men through the crowd. The blockade of bodyguards closed up again behind him.

“So, what can I do?” Mokuba asked casually, taking off his blazer and rolling up the sleeves of his button-up.

Atem pulled the stick out of the tub and shook it off, hesitating for a moment to reflect on everything that had just transpired. What Kaiba had said to him wasn't relevant at the moment. What Mokuba had said to Kaiba was. Atem had never seen them talk to each other like that, and tried to reason with the younger Kaiba, “...You should really apologize to Kaiba later. He’s responsible for you until you become a legal adult, I'm sure he just wants the best for you-”

“Yeah yeah, whatever, I already know, but I wish he would just start acting more like my _brother._ But let’s not talk about that, how have you been? It feels like it’s been forever! I haven’t even heard your name mentioned in years.”

Atem felt himself freeze up a little, and tried to ignore the painful tightening of his chest, “Uh. You can grab the brushed over there, the large flat ones with the thick bristles. My team should be arriving soon…” He pretended to start getting busy by digging through his bag. He hoped Mokuba wouldn't notice his avoidance of the question entirely.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Mokuba said flatly.

“Question?” Atem feigned ignorance, pulling out gridded copies of the mural image.

“How have you been?” Mokuba asked plainly, handing Atem a brush.

“Thanks...I’ve been fine,” Atem said, quickly moving on to give instructions on what Mokuba could help with, “We need to cover this area in an arch with this paint, see where the lines faintly outline the shape? Try not to cover up these other lines too much, but feel free to go a bit over the lighter lines.”

Mokuba slowly nodded, and gave Atem a slightly concerned look, “Just...fine?”

Atem tried not to let his emotions show as the text conversations with Yugi flashed in his mind. Yugi had said something similar earlier that morning, “Well, I’ve been busy starting my own business. I’ve been much more optimistic lately, now that it’s finally starting to take off.”

“You know I could definitely tell you apart from Yugi now,” Mokuba laughed, “You look much cooler.”

Atem couldn’t bring himself to laugh.

Mokuba paused, “How is everyone? I haven’t seen them either. Not since...you know…”

“Well…”

“Mr. Muran!” Keiko’s unmistakable voice chimed out. They looked over to see her squeeze her way past the wall of people and huff her way over.

“I’m sorry, maybe it was a bad idea for me to stay.” Mokuba said guiltily, staring at the crowd of paparazzi that began to yell about the girl as she slipped past the security.

“It’s fine,” Atem said, thankful that Keiko had chosen such a time to make an entrance, “Keiko, you just missed Seto Kaiba again. This is Mokuba Kaiba, who I’m sure you’ve also heard of, he’s asked to help out for a while.”

“Oh r-really? Wow, it’s a pleasure meeting you!” Keiko said and gave a long bow.

“You really don’t have to keep your head down like that,” Mokuba said awkwardly, “Your name is Keiko right?”

“Yes, well, my name is actua-”

“Keiko.” Atem said, and whispered loudly to her, “He doesn’t care about the name your parents gave you. He’ll call you whatever you want to be called.”

“Yeah.” Mokuba nodded.

“A-ah thank you!”

“Grab a brush. I want to get this finished before two.” Atem said.

“Sorry!”

They all got along pretty well after that. Keiko guided Mokuba in a lot of the areas he needed to fill in, though Atem knew Mokuba already got the gist of it. He vaguely suspected Mokuba was pretending not to understand the obvious layout planning on purpose and couldn’t help secretly smiling to himself. But if Atem came from such a different world from Keiko, Mokuba came from another universe entirely. He was rich, well-versed in social etiquette, well coordinated, and insanely intelligent like his brother. Keiko was middle class, artistically minded and...insufficient in all other aspects, to put it nicely. But the two seemed to get along just fine nonetheless.

Syo called Atem to cancel halfway through, having missed the bus, and apologized profusely. Atem accepted the apology, and consoled him with the fact they had an extra hand volunteering for today. He didn’t bother giving out Mokuba’s name, and Syo didn’t ask, and the rest of the day went by without any incident.

They packed everything up and he dismissed Keiko while Mokuba lingered behind to talk to Atem.

“I should probably get going, since I didn’t even mean to stay this long in the first place…” Mokuba sighed, “Trust me I understand what you meant about my brother. And I’ll apologize. But he’s the whole reason I couldn’t hang out with you at all for this long, and I wouldn’t have been able to hang out today if I hadn’t pushed it.”

Atem laughed, “He can be a bit controlling.”

“Tell me about it,” Mokuba rolled his eyes, “I couldn’t even mention your name without getting into a fight with him for the longest time, so eventually I just gave up.”

Atem felt his chest tighten again, “Why?”

“I don’t know. I mean I know he shut you out and whatever, and Seto doesn’t go back on that kind of stuff, but he was so dramatic about it. I know, he’s dramatic about _everything_ , but I mean he was _dramatic_ about it.”

Atem didn’t know what to say, but Mokuba quickly filled in the silence again.

“Anyway how has everyone else been? I know Yugi’s working for our company developing a game but I haven’t actually talked to any of them in a while.”

“Well I don’t really...talk to them much either.” Atem felt the weight of his phone in his pocket suddenly and adjusted the canvas bag over his shoulder insecurely.

“What do you mean? Did you guys like...fall out or something?”

“Sort of.”

“You don’t even talk to _Yugi?”_ Mokuba asked incredulously.

Atem nervously averted his eyes, “Well actually I’m seeing him on Tuesday. I just don’t...live with him anymore.”

“Oh. Well...I can’t stay long. But I wanna know everything. Since you guys left I actually had to...y’know... _make friends my age_ , as Seto put it. It’s been hell,” Mokuba laughed, “But we should exchange numbers so we can keep in touch! In case my brother never lets me see you again. Or something.”

Atem nodded and pulled out his phone. He tapped on the screen and a notification for thirteen texts from Yugi popped up. He quickly dismissed the notification and pulled up his contacts. They exchanged numbers and Mokuba was escorted out as the wall of bodyguards enveloped around him. Atem waited a while to make his way home. A few reporters stuck around to briefly attempt to harass him, but after being ignored to the end of the street, they seemed to leave.

As the pavement turned into dirt and grass past the city suburbs, Atem pulled out his phone and checked the messages from Yugi.

> **Yugi:** So
> 
> **Yugi:** Atem?
> 
> **Yugi:** Hey
> 
> **Yugi:** I don’t know if you’re ignoring me or if you’re busy
> 
> **Yugi:** Hopefully just busy
> 
> **Yugi:** Otherwise you’re really just being cruel but I don't want to think that about you
> 
> **Yugi:** Call me
> 
> **Yugi:** Please
> 
> **Yugi:** I know I’m seeing you on Tuesday and you want to leave everything alone until then
> 
> **Yugi:** I haven’t told Joey or Tristan or Tea like I promised
> 
> **Yugi:** But then who can I talk to?
> 
> **Yugi:** We used to talk about everything
> 
> **Yugi:** Please. Call me. As soon as you can.

Atem gripped the phone tightly between his hands. Most of the messages had a few minutes in between, the last one was sent an hour ago. He debated calling. He knew it was unfair to Yugi, asking him to not tell anyone, but he felt a bubble of envy grow in his chest. It wasn’t like he had anyone to talk to either. He didn’t really have friends anymore. Just people he saw at parties and the two people he was working with on the mural, and they were all only acquaintances.

The weekend had passed so fast. Atem hardly remembered any of it. He went over for a house party on Friday night and woken up at home Saturday afternoon. He slightly wished he hadn’t gotten so high so he would’ve been able to savor those two days. It was too late now.

He rolled his tongue over in his mouth, eyes still burning into the messages on his phone as he hopped up the steps to his apartment.

> **You:** Sorry Yugi. I was working.

Atem grabbed his keys and fumbled with the lock as his phone softly buzzed in his hand.

> **Yugi:** On the mural?
> 
> **You:** Yes.
> 
> **Yugi:** Are you home now?
> 
> **You:** Yes.

Atem sighed as the phone began to ring, with Yugi’s caller ID popping up on the screen. Atem quickly moved inside and waited another ring to answer.

“Yo.”

 _“Hey, Atem.”_ Yugi spoke softly.

Atem felt his defenses begin the fall, “Aibou.”

There was a long silence on the other line before Yugi spoke up again, _“Heh...I haven’t been called that in a long time.”_

“I’m sorry.”

 _“Actions speak louder than words, you know,”_ Yugi replied quietly.

Atem clenched his jaw, “I don't want to fight with you. I want to wait to talk everything out in person. I wish I could let you talk to the others, but you know they would get involved and I just want to be able to talk to you without worrying about that. I'm sorry, Yugi. Just give me time, please.”

_“...I'll see you on Tuesday, I guess. I'll keep my mouth shut. I've had no choice but to give you time...three years worth of it...but fine.”_

Atem knew Yugi was just hurt and bitter. He felt like he should feel guilty, should want to do all he could to make it up to Yugi - but only found himself getting angry. He hung up and threw the phone across the room, wincing at the loud _thunk_ as it hit the wall and clattered to to the floor. He felt childish, grabbing his face and crying in frustration.

He remembered something Mokuba said earlier. Something about fighting with his brother every time he tried to mention Atem, and not even hearing his name mentioned for a while.

He felt his heart begin to sting.

The way Kaiba looked at him was hard to read. It was intense the entire time, it made him feel like he was under a bright, hot spotlight. There was a strange fire to it, but it didn't seem to be hatred. Even the glare he had been thrown when Mokuba asked to help out was purely suggestion - a hint that Kaiba was against it. It wasn't necessarily directed at him, right?

The way he had felt Kaiba's eyes burn into him when asking about the tattoo on his stomach, that look had to be some sort of a challenge or just a look of disgust or...something. From when he had been pulled aside, he could still imagine the feeling of Kaiba's breath faintly hitting his neck.

Atem laughed to himself, feeling his mind slip into confused and stressful lust. It was hard to focus and the drugs had worn off hours ago. He ached to be calm but knew it wasn't healthy to knowingly use the drugs to cope all the time. Freaking out like this wasn't solving anything, and surely wasn't going to get him what he wanted.

He wanted Yugi's visit to go well.

He wanted Kaiba to fall for him, or fuck him just once - or heck he'd settle for being tolerated and not shut out anymore.

 

Kaiba felt himself burning with anger since he had left his brother with Atem. It was now well into the evening and Mokuba was in his room avoiding him.

_That's fine._

Kaiba stated blankly into the dimly lit room. The screens were all off and there was no ambience to be heard, just the stillness of the room. It was calming after spending another day looking at numbers and having mind numbing conversations with old white men who don't _actually_ care about innovation, just money. Who barely understood how to appeal to the modern citizens of Japan. Or how to put money into the economy in order to gain a larger profit because all they hear is “losing money,” even if it's only temporary.

Kaiba rubbed his temples.

Not to mention Atem, who now seemed to act like some frightened stray cat. It was very apparent today. Besides that, he was forced to shut down the conversation he had visited Atem _again_ with the purpose of uncovering. One thing he knew that it had something to do with some “drama,” and whatever happened made Atem make a really pathetic expression just thinking about it.

Unless Yugi and the rest were somehow slipping under the radar to visit Atem where he was living now, they hadn't seen each other since Atem disappeared. That had to have something to do with it. Those nerds were inseparable.

Kaiba found some footage of Atem at the mural site and scanned his face and then ran it through surveillance footage of the past three years and laid down in his bed as the program ran itself.

He wasn't going to question why the hell he cared.

At this point he didn't want to think of an answer. But he couldn't help himself.

Maybe he was bored.

Maybe he needed friends.

Kaiba rolled his eyes at the thought.

He was bored.

Atem was the only person he could seem to tolerate.

Shutting him out felt like a mistake for so long. He needed to confirm he wasn't. It was seeming like it should be easy to confirm already. Atem had obviously lost a good amount of self esteem. He looked like a delinquent, and though he had been a _little_ confident in their first meeting, this time he had been very timid.

It was infuriating.

Where had that fire gone? The confidence that could rival Kaiba himself. The witty comebacks. The person who didn't put up with Kaiba's bullshit. The person who would've made some dumb friendship speech as soon as Mokuba had started acting up.

It felt like Atem had been replaced. It didn't sit well with Kaiba at all.

He pressed into his temples firmly, feeling a strong headache come on. He wandered into the bathroom and popped some aspirin.

It was like Atem's eyes had dulled. The gaze that use to burn from across a duel arena was nonexistent. He had become soft. And sad. It was insulting to think someone so weak used to be considered a worthy opponent.

Was it because Kaiba had shut him out?

_If so, how pathetic._

But any hypothesis Kaiba could feasibly come up with was unacceptable.

He needed to know.

He needed to know.

He needed to know.

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Sorry about the unexpected hiatus! My closest friend, who I haven't seen for over 9 months, came for a surprise visit so I sorta put this story on the backburner heh. It takes a lot of my time and I edit all of it myself. I also mixed up the dates for when I was supposed to update, but I really hope you guys understand and thank you so much for all your support!!!

I really hope I can start updating weekly! I will try! Now that there are no more surprises lol

Thank you sooo freakin’ much for reading and commenting and I hope you forgive me ><

**Next Update: June 1st (hopefully)**

~James

p.s. if you wanna [check out my spotify playlist for this fic click here](https://open.spotify.com/user/alifelineofpages/playlist/7E6NL82bvfxxl1ln8FyVGQ?si=-bULxrfVRxaBFvCMk8uFXw) (please also read the playlist description) 


	6. Murphy's Law

Atem groaned at the sun rays, which signaled to him brightly that the day had begun. It was Monday. He wasn't working today, but the sun was always at just the right angle through the blinds to wake him up around 9. He buried his head under the comforter and tried to will himself back to sleep, but the gears in his head began moving. He started thinking, in a frustrated half-asleep manner. He threw the blanket off of him and stared intensely into the air. His stomach growled loudly.

Atem got up and threw on some pants and started up a pot of water on the stove. He abandoned it shortly to fumble around for the box under his bed. He pulled out his weed and his pipe, casually packing the bowl as he occasionally glanced again at the water to see if it had started boiling.

He flicked his lighter and took a deep breath through the pipe, feeling the warm air fill his lungs. He exhaled a wispy cloud of smoke and quickly put his lips back against the pipe, sucking in another breath. He took a few long hits, feeling his head become light as he watched the water begin to boil. He turned down the heat slightly, put his pipe down on the edge of the sink, rinsed some rice in a strainer, and poured it into the hot water.

He placed the strainer on the counter and picked the pipe back up. He smoked for a while, watching the rice cook. The bowl of the pipe became soon black and ashy, eventually only causing Atem to cough. He cleaned it out and put an egg on a pan. He finished cooking the unexciting meal of egg-and-rice and added a few extra ingredients for flavor.

He sat down at the small table and tapped his phone awake. The screen lit up, letting him know he had multiple text messages. He shoved a forkful of food in his mouth, ignoring the slight burn from the still-hot food as he opened them up. There were a few messages from just about every contact in his phone.

Keiko, Syo, Aleister, Virgil, Yugi, and Mokuba. The only contacts that hadn’t messaged him were his bank and Reo. He lazily opened up Syo and Keiko’s messages, and didn’t bother replying - they were just apologies for being late/not showing up the day before. He didn’t care. Yugi had only said “Hi” and Atem didn’t know what to say in response. He decided to check Mokuba last, and would check Aleister’s and Virgil’s messages.

> **Aleister:** When?

Atem blew a puff of air to move a strand of hair from his eyes and hovered his fingers over the keyboard. Aleister was the guy who supplied him with weed. Initial conversations had been much more involved, and Atem may have even foolishly considered him a friend - but the guy was only friendly to stick around afterward and smoke what he had already sold. Despite the ever-present loneliness, Atem would rather be alone than hang out with someone who obviously didn’t _actually_ like being around him.

> **You:** Late. Probably 10?
> 
> **Aleister:** Be there 9:30 or pay extra
> 
> **You:** K

Atem rolled his eyes and opened Virgil’s messages. Virgil was a chronic couch surfer and meth head, but he frequented the most lowkey parties. Atem often accompanied him on weekends, the guy seemed to genuinely like his company, and you wouldn’t know he was meth head unless you put him side by side with someone sober. He just seemed like an eccentric guy otherwise.

 

> **Virgil:** Can I crash?

Atem blinked at the message. Absolutely not. Virgil could _not_ stay at his place. He only had one bed, no couch, and Yugi would be coming over the next day. He couldn’t risk Virgil making the place a mess, and he definitely didn’t want Yugi to _ever_ come in contact with the guy.

> **You:** Nope.
> 
> **Virgil:** Damn

Atem sighed in relief at the quick reply. He opened up Mokuba’s messages.

> **Mokuba:** Hey! You free today? ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Atem chuckled at the emoticon and mulled over a reply. Was Mokuba going to ask him to hang out? It hadn’t even been a day. He supposed he wouldn’t turn it down. Though...Kaiba might disapprove of it...

> **You:** I don’t suppose I have any plans until late tonight. Why?
> 
> **Mokuba:** Do you want to come over?
> 
> **Mokuba:** I know it’s sudden. But today the graduating class is having a field trip and I didn’t want to go. So I’m home and boreddddddd (┳◇┳)
> 
> **Mokuba:** I can send a car to pick you up!

Atem frowned slightly, watching each new message pop up on the screen. Would coming over mean...going to Kaiba’s house? Mokuba still lived with his brother right? There was a chance he could see Kaiba. Though, it was likely he wouldn’t even be home - he did his work at the KC Tower, right? It might even be a bad idea to be seen by Kaiba - he had reacted poorly to Mokuba staying behind to help out with the mural. Though, that may have been purely contextual. However, the way Mokuba had talked about their discussions, or lack thereof, of Atem himself, maybe Kaiba really wanted nothing to do with him. He sighed deeply.

> **You:** How soon?
> 
> **Mokuba:** You’ll come? What’s your address I’ll send a car right now! ヾ(*´∇`)ﾉ

Atem dropped the phone on the table and quickly rummaged through his drawers, pulling out some clothes to wear and hastily pulling them on. Surely he couldn’t have a car pick him up from his apartment. The area in which he lived wasn’t exactly very nice. He’d walk to the suburbs just a few minutes from the complex and have Mokuba send a car to pick him up from there. Say he went for a walk. Besides - he was high as fuck. This had bad idea written all over it. Hopefully it wasn’t going to become a running theme.

The phone buzzed a couple more times as Atem scrambled to put himself together. He grabbed his phone and headed out the door, opening it again to check Mokuba’s new messages.

> **Mokuba:** Tbh you probably need to get here soon to be sure my brother doesn’t come home yet
> 
> **Mokuba:** I dunno if he’d be too happy with me inviting you over…
> 
> **Mokuba:** But I’ll worry about that
> 
> **Mokuba:** Pleaseeeee
> 
> **You:** I’m out for a walk right now. Can you pick me up off the street?
> 
> **Mokuba:** Sure! What block? Or are you in the city??

Atem quickened his pace to a half-hearted run. He tried to think of what the nearest street was. It might take time for the car to arrive, depending on where it was coming from, but if he screwed up and named the wrong block he might not get there in time. He sighed and guessed which one he’d be able to reach in time.

> **You:** 16? I think that’s the direction I’m going. I’m coming up on the end of this block.
> 
> **Mokuba:** Okay! That’s on the outside of Domino right? That area’s pretty easy to navigate I’ll hop in the car with the driver and find you ♪┏(・o･)┛♪

Atem smiled a little, slowing his pace slightly to a fast-walk. The emoticons sure were cute. It wasn’t something he’d expect from someone related to Seto Kaiba, but somehow it was still very Mokuba. He figured whatever phone Mokuba was using had a very easy way to navigate different keyboards to make them, and was probably a lot more expensive than the plastic he was currently holding. He sighed deeply, and put it in his pocket.

He approached a sign and sighed in relief. He’d have to walk quickly but he could possibly pass it off as going the wrong direction if he turned around. He sent a quick text telling Mokuba what block he was actually on and walked at a leisure pace in the right direction. He almost made it to the end of the block when a car pulled up beside him.

A tinted window in the back lowered, and Mokuba’s voice rang towards Atem, “Hop in!”

The car hadn’t even rolled to a stop when Mokuba swung the door out. Atem hastily got in and Mokuba shut the door behind him. The driver grunted and soon the car started moving again.

Mokuba was practically glowing. He gave Atem a toothy smile. Today he was dressed a bit less formal than the last time Atem had seen him. Mokuba was wearing a dark blue button up with the sleeves rolled up, a light blue tie, form-fitting grey slacks, and laced shoes. It was considerably dressed down from the tacky suit. It was still more neat and formal than the wrinkled black button-up, skinny jeans, and buckled boots Atem was wearing. He awkwardly adjusted the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt.

Mokuba seemed to notice, and raised an eyebrow at him, “You’re seriously taking a walk wearing all black?”

Atem smiled nervously and shrugged, looking down at his boots, noticing the lopsided ties of the laces on both shoes, “It wasn’t going to be a long walk...just a few blocks…”

“The weather _is_ pretty nice today,” Mokuba noted, “Maybe sometime I should kidnap you for a trip to Kaibaland! You know the cherry blossoms are gonna bloom up there soon, it’ll be awesome!”

Atem laughed nervously, “Shouldn’t you go with your friends? And I don’t think you can ‘kidnap’ someone who’s older than you. And you know I’m an adult, right?”

Mokuba rolled his eyes, “Yeah yeah, but you’re my friend too! I go with them all the time. They’re no good at the games, but I bet you’d be awesome!”

“Well I guess I can’t argue with that.” Atem smiled politely.

“Come on, just because Seto beat you doesn’t mean you suck at _all_ games now, right?”

“Um. I. I guess.” Atem rubbed the back of his neck. What a backhanded compliment. Would that even count as a compliment?

“Sure I’m not _legally_ an adult yet, doesn’t mean I’m a kid. You don’t have to be polite like that. Come on. We’re friends.”

Atem nodded silently. It was strange realizing Mokuba was a teen now, and how much not actually being recognized as an adult seemed to bug him. Atem supposed that was a lot of Kaiba Corporation’s fault. He was the co-CEO. There were probably a lot of people who didn’t take Mokuba seriously because of his age. He briefly wondered if Kaiba had the same problem back when he took over the company and made the whole transition from weaponry to card games and technology.

“You know you seem a bit out of it. You’re not like how I remember, but I guess things change. I mean, you used to be a lot more confident and talk a lot more.” Mokuba smiled tentatively.

Atem barely acknowledged the words as mind drifted hazily and he stared into the light blue of Mokuba’s tie. It was shiny, and Atem was half convinced it was glowing. His thoughts of Kaiba drifted back into the knowledge that he was in a car with Mokuba, going to the Kaibas’ residence. The place where Seto Kaiba lived.

“Are you okay?” Mokuba asked, “You know I didn’t mean to offend you or anything. Just saying you’ve changed a lot. That’s probably not a bad thing.”

Atem shook his head, “I’m fine. You’re right.” Atem smiled, but had already forgotten what exactly Mokuba had said about how he had changed.

Mokuba crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back in the seat, “What do you wanna do while you’re at my house? We’ve got lots of games. Virtual reality stuff. I know the other times we were in virtual reality weren’t so great...but I promise this time there’s no group trying to sabotage Kaiba Corp with these ones.” He laughed awkwardly.

“I’m not worried about that,” Atem assured him, “I’m alright with anything. I haven’t played a video game in a long time.”

“We have lots of new ones! I helped develop a lot them. So did Yugi, before he actually got started on his new project. I’m sure you knew that though?”

“I knew he’s working on making his own game. He’s been working on it for a long time, and now he works for a branch of Kaiba Corp developing it.”

“Yeah…” Mokuba mumbled, “Are you...not close with him anymore?”

Atem looked down at his lap, “Well. People grow apart. I suppose.”

“But you guys used to be inseparable, literally, for a while. Before all that Egyptian stuff blew over.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.” Atem smiled gently, hoping that would be enough to convince Mokuba to drop it.

Mokuba frowned but nodded, “Okay...So. You don’t talk to any of them anymore. And you don’t live with Yugi at the game store. So...what do you do?”

“I paint...Yugi got me interested in it. I wasn’t at first. But...it’s nice. My paintings seem to be very popular, so it’s working out for me.”

“That’s...cool. I guess. Is that all?”

Atem felt himself start to sweat, “What? You don’t think it’s an actual job?”

Mokuba laughed nervously, “I didn’t mean it that way. But...you really make enough to live on?”

Atem looked off to the side and winced, “Mostly?”

“Don’t compare yourself to someone like me. Me and Seto have it made. I know other people have to work really hard to have half of what we have. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Thanks.” Atem replied sincerely, though he knew Mokuba was assuming he lived in the neighborhood he had picked him up from. Which wasn’t the case at all. He lived in a shitty little unsurvallianced apartment complex and was aware of three sex offenders that lived in the surrounding area, as well as four drug dealers and several drug addicts. He got away with using drugs himself on a daily basis, though he was always very careful about it and probably didn’t even need to be. The landlord never actually came up to check on him and had the telltale signs of a coke user, so she probably wouldn’t report him for something like _weed._ He felt his mind tunneling downwards and suddenly pulled himself out of it, looking up at Mokuba who was looking at him quizzically as the car rolled to a stop.

“We’re...here.” Mokuba said, “Are you...sure you’re okay? You seem really out of it.”

“I’m fine.” Atem pushed his thoughts aside, “Let’s hurry up before Kaiba gets home.”

Mokuba nodded. Atem secretly _wanted_ to see Kaiba, but not until after getting inside. He wanted a glimpse of what Kaiba’s home life could possibly be like. What kind of place he was living in. He doubted anything personal would be out in the open, but it would be nice just to see the house he walks through every day. Then, after hanging out with Mokuba for a while, he’d be fine with being caught and being kicked out. Though it might make him lose points with Kaiba, but at this point the possibility of even getting close to Kaiba again felt very out of reach. He’d take what he could get.

Atem stepped out of the car into a beautiful rounded driveway. He hadn’t been paying attention to the view from the car windows the whole trip, but they seemed to have passed through a high gate, closing off the road from the estate. The driveway pulled up next to the spotless front yard of a large mansion, and also branched off out and around to a large garage attached to the main building. A path lined with flowers and lights went up to large double doors. Atem followed Mokuba mindlessly, looking around at the scenery.

“Don’t look so amazed like that - you already knew we were rich.” Mokuba laughed.

“Sorry. It’s different seeing it up close.”

“Have you really never been here before?”

Atem shook his head, “I haven’t.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s not like we ever hung out here, and Seto never invites anyone over. Well. Anyone who’s not a _girl._ ”

Atem felt a rock form in his chest. Ah. Of course. Kaiba’s relationships were always publicized, as most celebrity relationships were, but Atem had always ignored them as meaningless gossip. Besides, he had never really thought to care about it before. But now that he was aware of the sort of feelings he had for Kaiba, he couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous, even if it seemed those relationships always ended in “disaster” according to the media. He really couldn’t imagine Kaiba having a stable long-term relationship with the way he obsesses over work. But he could imagine Kaiba bringing a woman to his home and…

The thoughts were dispelled in favor of awe of the grand staircase behind the double doors, leading up to the second floor. The banister was beautifully carved. The stairs were marble, as well as the floor. Small decorations were pushed up against the walls, a polished mirror with an intricate frame, glass furniture and statues of chess pieces, a few picture frames - all were either pictures of Mokuba, or the two brothers together, none of Kaiba alone. Everything was so neatly arranged and clean. He felt like he was in a castle rather than the home of a young CEO of a company that developed technology based around a card game. Kaiba Corp was so much more than that these days, but Atem had always expected Kaiba’s home to be a bit more...modern. He realized what he had expected was a lot more...beachside penthouse than mansion. He didn’t suppose Kaiba had this building entirely custom built either, probably only expanded upon, since the architecture was very reminiscent of the Taisho period. It seemed fairly westernized, and the structure was either fairly new or very well-kept. Atem cringed at the thought of how expensive the building must be.

Mokuba sighed audibly, and grabbed Atem by the arm, “Let’s go up to my room. I _really_ don’t want Seto to see you here. He shouldn’t be home anytime soon but _seriously_ he probably already knows you’re here and might come home early. Who knows.”

Atem let Mokuba drag him up to his room, and when they reached the hall, he couldn’t stop himself from looking back to the other end of the hall and asking numbly, “Is Kaiba’s room over there?”

“Uh. Yeah. Why? Come on. He’s not home right now. I have plenty of space to hide you there, but we can’t hide in the middle of the hall!”

Atem nodded, and silently scolded himself for asking such a brash and suspicious question out loud. He followed Mokuba quickly into his room.

The space was very large and open. A desk was pushed up against a large window looking out into a garden, and Mokuba hurried over to pull the curtain to cover the glass. As he did so, the color of the walls changed from a greyish blue to a light blue, and the strips of lights on the ceiling brightened slightly. A large bookshelf sat against the wall like an art piece, the books organized aesthetically with the twisting shelves. A bed twice the size of Atem’s had its own space cut into the wall, and pillows were pushed up against all sides. He felt dizzy thinking about what Kaiba’s bed possibly looked like. He quickly turned to Mokuba and tried to force the thought from his mind, “It’s crazy how much better you live than me.”

Mokuba rubbed his arm awkwardly, “Yeah. Well. Uh. Sorry?”

“Don’t apologize,” Atem said quickly, and looked back at the bed, and quickly turned back to Mokuba, realizing how weird it must seem to appear so interested in looking at Mokuba’s bed, “So. Games?”

“Uh. Yeah...my games are over in this room…” He pointed over at a door on the side of the room, and quickly moved over to open it and motioned him to follow.

Atem smiled tightly, walking in after him.

_This was a bad idea. A very bad, stupid idea. I can’t focus. I’m high. I’m still too high. I’m acting weird. He’s going to figure it out. I don’t know how he’s going to react. Please think it’s cool. Like my tattoos. But don’t ask to try it or something. Please. Then Kaiba will definitely hate me._

“Hey, if you’re being paranoid about my brother you should calm down...the worst he’s gonna do is throw you out. We might get into a fight or something, but all he does is yell. I’m sure he won’t try to mess up your reputation or anything. He’d only do that if you did something bad. And come on, that’s not you. He knows you, even if he’s pretending to be distant. So...chill out. You’re being kind of weird.”

Atem nodded numbly. Even if that wasn’t exactly what he was paranoid about...it was comforting nonetheless. Besides, he had an excuse for his weird behavior. Mokuba didn’t expect a thing. He felt much better.

Mokuba set up a simple adventure game for them to play. It had incredible graphics, and Atem was amazed seeing them on the giant screen. The room was as big as Mokuba’s bedroom, and had sound padding on the walls. There were a two other large screens on the connecting walls, and shelves of games and controllers and other devices to play games with. He noted that not everything seemed to be Kaiba Corporation manufactured, or even disguised under any of the recognizable subsidiary companies Atem knew of that Kaiba Corp owned. It was mildly surprising. There were also many games in different languages. It should have been a given that Mokuba was well-educated, and that would include other languages, but Atem had never really considered it before.

“You know, some of my friends from school…” Mokuba said with a bit of difficulty, as he seemed to be intensely immersed in button-mashing and paying attention to the enemy onscreen, “Even though I go to a private charter school...some people get in on scholarships and whatever...my best friend did...he acted like you the first time he came over.”

“Like me?” Atem asked, wondering what part of how he was acting reminded Mokuba of his friend. The obviously-high-but-apparently-not-to-Mokuba part?

“Yeah...I mean I’ve been to the game shop where Yugi lives...so I already know I live better than like everyone...I seriously don’t mean to brag...but when my friend came over it was funny...how much he looked at everything...I took him on a tour...it was fun, actually.” Mokuba said, and paused the game and looked over at Atem, “Hey. I know we’re worried about Seto showing up and all. But come on. I have enough dirt on him to make this one slide.” Mokuba smiled mischievously, “So how about I show you around?”

Atem let out a small laugh, “Dirt on him?”

Mokuba put down his controller and turned his whole body toward Atem, looking almost impish as he spoke again, “You know he hiccups when he laughs? I don’t mean that stupid full-of-it laugh he does, I mean like. When he actually laughs. Which he does. Sometimes. At least around me. He hiccups. And it’s loud. And high pitched. I worked for a week to find a joke that would make him laugh. And I recorded me telling him, and him laughing. It wasn’t even a good joke.”

Atem felt the air leave his body.

Mokuba leaned in close and whispered, “I convinced him I deleted the audio. I didn’t.”

He stared a Mokuba blankly and felt the words escape him, “Do you have any more?”

Mokuba grinned wider, “He’ll deck you as soon as you try, but his sides are ticklish. He used to shut himself in his room and blast emo punk rock when he had a long day at work. When he’s drunk enough, sometimes I can convince him to play karaoke games with me. I have a few videos of him singing. He doesn’t know. I don’t think he remembers it even happened.”

Atem felt the room spin and he let out a weird laugh.

Mokuba stood up, “Come on. Enough about my genius stash of blackmail information. Let’s go! There’s so much to show you,” He walked towards the door, but stopped before grabbing the doorknob, “This should go without saying. But everything I just told you is extremely confidential and you can’t tell _anyone._ You don’t know how hard its been to keep this stuff secret from my brother.”

Atem nodded and hopped up to follow Mokuba out. This all felt very surreal. He was in Kaiba’s house. Listening to his brother reveal secret, embarrassing, yet adorable information about Seto Kaiba, the cutthroat businessman. A guy who acted outwardly cold and narcissistic. And hiccups when he laughs.

Mokuba led him through the house, showing him beautiful rooms one after the other. It didn’t matter so much anymore. He was high on the thought of hearing Kaiba laugh, genuinely. Or watch him drunkenly sing karaoke. Plenty of people were infamous for doing so, but Kaiba was the last person Atem expected to do so. He wondered what Kaiba’s singing voice would sound like as he drifted from room to room. Mokuba brought Atem into the garage where he raved about the twenty different expensive cars for the solid half of an hour. Mokuba was leading him back through the front room with the staircase to lead him to the doors into the garden when a voice echoed through the room.

“Mokuba.”

Mokuba stopped in his tracks, and looked over. Kaiba was standing in front of the double doors with his arms crossed. Mokuba straightened up and smiled innocently, “Yeah, Seto?”

The high was almost completely gone, and Aem felt the dread set in seeing Kaiba standing in front of them, looking extremely unamused.

Kaiba looked over at Atem, “You didn’t tell me you invited a guest over.”

Mokuba rolled his eyes, “Yeah. I figured you’d find it out on your own.”

Kaiba’s eyes darted back at Mokuba.

Mokuba threw up his arms, “Whatever. I was just about to show him the garden. He’s been here a couple hours. Was fun while it lasted. You gonna kick him out now?”

“No,” Kaiba said calmly, and looked back at Atem, “I’ll show him the garden.”

“Do whatever.” Mokuba said and stormed up the stairs and left.

Kaiba watched Mokuba leave and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “The glass doors over there. You can see the garden. Go ahead. I’ll follow.”

Atem felt his heart rate jump and he robotically turned. He fumbled with the door, pushing instead of pulling at first and Kaiba reached over him to pull open the door. Atem could smell him at this close. He smelled...clean. And somewhat metallic. It was pleasant and Atem hurried out onto the path outside.

Kaiba stood next to him, and Atem could feel his eyes. He couldn’t will himself to move. He could only imagine what Kaiba’s hiccuping, genuine laugh might sound like. It was a sound he’d probably never hear.

Kaiba suddenly stepped extremely close to him and Atem stumbled back before Kaiba grabbed him by the shirt. What was…

Atem got the distinct notion that...Kaiba was sniffing him. It made him feel hot all over. Why-

“Atem…” Kaiba said calmly, and looked him straight in the eye with the most terrifying glare Atem had ever seen, “Are you high?”

Atem’s eyes widened. Shit. Kaiba was mad. He was already mad. But he had noticed that Atem was high. Or at least, that he smelled like marijuana. He probably noticed first when he reached over him to open the door.

Atem couldn’t tear his eyes away from Kaiba, and tried to sound confident but his voice wavered, “No...not…at the moment.”

Kaiba squinted and let go, turning away and started to laugh in a sort of...maniacal way, “You know...I thought you’ve started to look like a delinquent.” He turned his head back to look at Atem, “I didn’t expect that you’d start to act like one. Of course, you’d have to be high to think you were welcome in my house in the first place.”

“I…”

Kaiba waved his hand dismissively, “You’ve _seen_ at the garden. Let’s go inside now.”

Atem felt himself shrink, and glanced over to the garden. It looked like a postcard for a botanical garden. He followed Kaiba inside slowly. Mokuba had apparently come back down and was waiting for them.

“Seto-”

Kaiba held up his hand, his entire body seemed calm and collected and so did his voice as he spoke, “Is Atem staying for dinner? You’ll have to tell Isono to arrange him a seat.”

Mokuba’s mouth gaped and he looked over at Atem in confusion.

Atem gulped, and slowly made his way toward the door, “I...better go.”

“You won’t stay?” Kaiba asked innocently.

“I think I’ve...overstayed my visit.”

Kaiba smiled tightly, “Well. You’re welcome anytime you can _drive yourself._  I’ll call a car around to bring you home.”

Atem bit the inside of his cheek so hard he could taste blood, and tried not to make the emotional or physical pain visible as he smiled and quickly turned and headed out door that was already being held open by a servant of the house. He nodded, feeling humiliated, and turned back to give Mokuba a small wave. Mokuba waved back unsurely. He was probably confused.

Why was Kaiba pretending to be nice? It felt worse. Maybe he knew that.

Atem walked out onto the sidewalk lining the driveway. Had Kaiba been serious? _You’re welcome anytime you can drive yourself._ Or was that just a way to subtly insult him for showing up high. He’d get sober if it meant coming back and _not_ being scrutinized by Kaiba.

A car pulled up and Atem told the address to the driver. The driver paused.

“I can drop you off in the city. You can get a taxi from there.”

Atem’s eye twitched. Was the driver really refusing to take him directly to his apartment? He sighed, “Just drop me off somewhere on block 14 if you’re not going to take me there. I can walk the rest of the way.”

 

“What was that?” Mokuba asked as soon as the door closed behind Atem.

Kaiba placed his hand firmly on Mokuba’s shoulder, “Tell me next time when you’re inviting someone over.”

“You’re seriously not mad?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t.” Kaiba replied stiffly, and strode toward the kitchen, “What do you want for dinner? I’ll be eating here. I can even cook something if you want.”

“Don’t you have a lot of work to do?”

Kaiba grit his teeth, “Doesn’t matter. I’ve taken the rest of the day off.”

“Why?”

“Does it matter?”

Mokuba crossed his arms, and looked up the stairs, “I’m not...hungry right now.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

Mokuba went upstairs without another word. Kaiba waited to hear a door click and then slammed his fist into a wall. Even trying not to start an argument made the tension rise. It was getting impossible to try to take care of Mokuba. He had pretended to ignore the fact Atem was _high_ , pretended to be welcoming toward Atem, and all he got was a closed door.

At least Atem was smart enough to get the hint and leave.

Kaiba turned and headed toward the garage. He needed to go for a drive. He pulled a key of the wall and strode toward the fastest, loudest car and took it out on the road. He annoyed pedestrians with the revving of the engine until he reached the long stretch of deserted road.

People were infuriating.

_I fired my fucking secretary by accident._

_The other companies I have to negotiate with are full of nothing but old, ugly snakes, but what else is new._

_Mokuba can’t fucking stand being around me._

_And Atem’s become a fucking tweaker._

Kaiba spun the car around so hard it almost flipped over and slammed on the breaks, staring out into the cloud of dust and gas surrounding the car. The smell of burnt rubber permeated inside. The car shut off. He tried the key a few times, but it refused to start. He hopped out, slamming the car door down so hard it popped open again. He pushed it down again gently this time.

He walked around the car and opened up the trunk with his thumbprint, and lifted a compartment inside and pulled out a large bottle of white rum. He shut everything up again and got back into the drivers seat, messaging Isono with one hand, telling him to send someone to pick him up.

Isono arrived about ten minutes later to see Kaiba sitting inside of the steaming car, casually drinking liquor straight from the bottle. Kaiba stood up, strode over, and sat down in the back of Isono’s vehicle.

“Do you want me to call someone to tow the car?” Isono asked calmly.

“If you would.”

Isono bit back a criticism, and turned the car around to drive the speed limit back to the mansion. Kaiba wasn’t going to listen the first time, nor the hundredth time. It was how Kaiba dealt with his problems since he’d stopped playing duel monsters. Isono just wished he’d find something _less_ dangerous. Kaiba could at least stay home and drink, rather than leaving to burn out an engine and then drink.

“Isono, have you hear from the driver who took Atem home? What address did he give him?”

“I haven’t heard yet.”

Kaiba sighed, and pulled out his phone and sent out a message. It was immediately answered with the details. The address Atem had give the driver, and where he had been dropped off instead. Kaiba squinted at the phone.

The address was in an unsurvallienced area. They were usually occupied by lower criminals, drug dealers, and drifters. It kept some crime, usually drug trafficking, out of surrounding cities, and this particular neighborhood was located between three major provinces of Japan.

If this was where Atem lived, it made sense that he looked like a delinquent, and acted like one. He must’ve had a falling out with Yugi if _that_ was where he chose to live. It couldn’t be any nicer than living in a game shop, but housing would be cheap for someone living on the wages of a freelancing artist.

Kaiba finished off the bottle before they even arrived back at the mansion. Isono helped him to the door.

Mokuba sat in the kitchen, picking at a bowl of udon when he heard the door open. He watched Isono help Seto up the stairs.

Sometimes it was funny when Seto got drunk. Sometimes it was just sad.

 

* * *

  **Author’s Note:**

I’m so out of it, I literally finished writing this chapter today. I really really wanted to get it out though, and honestly 50% of it was easy, and flowed easily, but I’m really depending on you guys to tell me what you think. We gotta go down before we can go up and I really hope you enjoyed the little bits of trying-not-to-make-the-entire-chapter-angst I put into this one lol

Thanks for all your wonderful comments!

Also forgive me because I live in America so I keep writing things how they work where I live. I have never been to Japan. I want to be mostly accurate with the setting, though I fictionalize some things on purpose, I'm trying, but I already have and I will screw up sometimes. I don't know anything about Japan from personal experience so cut me some slack and please call me out if I write anything offensively wrong. I'm talking specifically right now about how streets work cause I finally thought to look it up and I Do Not Understand At All how block numbers and addresses Work, so I sort of omitted what I could but it might be clunky and awkward sounding because I did. Whoops.

(I also hope the emoticons show up okay on your browsers because...I’m taking a chance…for the sake of my headcanons...of Mokuba...and texting...)

**Next Update: June 8th**

~James


	7. Who I Am Hates Who I've Been

Blinds covered the large glass windows that lined the walls of the meeting room while fluorescent lights on the ceiling made up for the insufficient sunlight. Beyond the blinds lay grey skies and a steady downpour of rain.

Seto Kaiba sat in his chair, trying not to make it obvious that he was severely hungover and hadn't been able to stomach even the thought of breakfast. The artificial light in the room wasn't helping his head, neither was the talking or the fact that every little sound was amplified tenfold. He could hear the collar of his shirt brushing his neck every time he moved. The transcriber’s pen scribbling across paper. The slight jingle of the metallic earrings the woman sitting two seats away was wearing.

He refrained from letting his eye twitch every time someone tried to speak over him. He would sit back and let them spill their nonsense. He felt too shitty to argue without escalating things further, and that wasn't going to help.

“Why do you continue to refuse to release the detailed information of your company's current project, Mr. Kaiba?”

All eyes turned to him, and he felt like he was talking to paparazzi and not business associates. Everyone decided to go silent and wait for him to reply to this single question, like they were itching for a story.

He tried to keep a neutral expression, “It is sensitive information. Releasing the information to third parties increases the chance of misinformation being spread to the public while plans are still in development.”

“But you're still asking for investment at this point?”

“If you're suggesting this project will fall through, I'd like to remind you who you're talking to,” Kaiba grit his teeth, “My company has developed and improved the original duel disk a hundred times over. Kaiba Corporation has revolutionized holographic technology.”

“But you never kept this much information confidential. How do we know you're not scamming us?”

“Animal testing starts next week once the shipment comes into our labs. I would not spend the company's budget so frivolously.”

“We all know you have an affinity for fast cars.”

“Sure,” Kaiba sighed, “Payment for which comes out of my own pocket, and not Kaiba Corporation's budget. And _fast cars_ don't cost as much as living creatures, experimental trials, and employees with multiple doctorates in scientific fields of study.”

“So we're supposed to invest in this project based on what? People with fancy degrees?”

“The most intelligent scientific minds will be working on this technology, I wouldn't settle for less, but you won't be investing in them. You will be investing in the future of virtual reality and modern medicine.” Kaiba stated.

“How do those things even correlate?”

“Didn't your previous inventions involving virtual reality end in disaster?”

“That was not the fault of Kaiba Corporation.”

“But those were people you hired, right?”

Kaiba groaned internally. To end this conversation he would need to appeal to them. And what appealed to them? Money. Obviously.

“You want to know if you can make money off of this. Let me turn this around. I've made you more money than you've made me,” Kaiba scanned his eyes across the faces in the room, “So what do I have to gain in future investments in your companies? If this is how you approach new technology, one developed by the most technologically advanced corporation in the world. If you don't invest, you won't have any chips to cash in and the monopoly belongs to Kaiba Corporation and to me.” They could think he cared about his personal wealth all they wanted. It would persuade some of them invest purely out if spite, and he just wanted to get this off the ground. Even if they all backed out, it would make things more difficult, but he could do it all himself. So, really, how much _did_ he have to gain?

And like any well thought out gamble, the cards fell into place. The businessmen left, slightly disgruntled, to think over Kaiba's proposal with a sway towards an agreement.

One red headed woman hung around Kaiba. She wasn't much older than him. Kaiba knew she was there standing in for her father, the CEO of a major technology corporation in America, and hadn't spoken much the entire meeting.

“You look tired.”

From the way she had spoken, he wasn't sure what she meant by it. There was a possibility she was being sincere, meant it as an insult, or was hitting on him. If he could win her over, her father would be in his pocket.

Kaiba mustered a charming smile and looked her in the eyes, “I've been working very hard to get my invention off the ground.” Americans had a soft spot toward a portrait of humble, hard work, right?

She nodded, “You should sleep more. You know insomnia is a growing epidemic.”

Kaiba blinked as she turned to leave. He watched her silently make her way to the door.

She threw a glance back, “Doctors recommend 8 hours a night, but that number should actually increase as you get older.” And left.

Kaiba ran his hand through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. She was being sincere. That meant he probably looked just as terrible as he felt.

He pulled out his phone and quickly sent a message for a car. He decided he would be working from home for the rest of the day. He needed to lay down.

He passed by his office to tell his secretary to clear his afternoon and nearly threw up in the elevator.

Outside the rain continued to sprinkle down onto the city, and grey clouds covered up the entire sky. A man held an umbrella over him on the short journey from the front door to the car.

He let himself get some shut eye on the drive home. Despite the calming patter of raindrops on the roof of the vehicle, he only succeeded in letting his eyes rest a bit, which wasn't the part he was worried about.

Stepping inside the mansion, he heard some shuffling in the next room, and he paused until Mokuba's head poked out of the doorway.

“You're home early.”

“I could say the same about you.” Kaiba said unemotionally, and his throat strained a little as he spoke.

“Yeah. Seniors only have half days until school's out, and we don't have to go the last day next week, remember?”

“Oh. Right.” Kaiba sighs.

“Why are you home?”

“I thought you'd be happy I am.” Kaiba said absently, making his way up the stairs.

“I mean. I guess. Are you ok? You look sick.”

“I'm already aware I look like shit,” Kaiba shot back sarcastically.

Mokuba hopped up the steps behind him, and Kaiba kept heading towards his room.

“Was work that bad today? Did you have another meeting?”

“How does virtual reality and modern medicine correlate? Those morons have no imagination.” Kaiba sighed, pressing his hand to the pad beside his door, “At least they no longer say anything about Kaiba Corporation being nothing more than a Duel Monsters tech developer.”

Mokuba gave a small chuckle, “Yeah. Hey Seto…”

“Hmm?” Kaiba asked before falling onto his bed and promptly burying his face in the softness of the pillows.

“Are...are you still gonna work the rest of the day?”

“Was planning on it.” Kaiba groaned, though his voice was slightly muffled.

“I just wanted to talk to you first, at least. Since you're home.”

Kaiba sat up and patted the space beside him, “Go ahead.” Anything that would give him a short break. He hoped it wouldn't be anything stressful, but Mokuba's slight nervousness hinted otherwise.

Mokuba slowly sat on the edge of the bed, “You didn't threaten Atem, when you guys were out in the garden, did you?”

Kaiba felt his headache suddenly worsen, and rolled his eyes, “No. I didn't.”

“You didn't take him outside and tell him to stop talking to me or anything?”

“No.”

“Okay…”

“Is that it?”

“Well, no…” Mokuba hesitated, “I think you should apologize to him.”

Kaiba's eye twitched, “What?”

“You were pretty hostile. Even when we saw him at the game store, where he was painting, you were pretty cold.”

“Yeah, well, we're not _friends.”_ Kaiba snapped back. _Not to mention he's a fucking stoner._

“Yeah but…” Mokuba paused, and looked at Kaiba as if expecting him to interrupt, and then quickly resumed, “I'm not sure but...I don't think Atem has many friends anymore.”

 _So that is true. Atem had some sort of falling out._ Kaiba decided to feign complete ignorance, “Doesn't he have the friendship brigade?”

“Well...he told me he's supposed to be seeing Yugi today, but they're not close anymore. And he didn't want to talk about the others at all really.”

“He's seeing Yugi today?” Kaiba tried to sound like he was only pretending to be interested.

Mokuba rolled his eyes, “Why do you dislike them so much? They're good people.”

“I don't dislike them because of their morals. I _know_ they're _decent_ people. At least some of them…” Kaiba bit his tongue.

“Dude, I know Joey used to be in a gang, but you know what he had to live with and he's a good person now.”

Kaiba silently thanked Joey for existing to deter Mokuba's suspicion, and couldn't help feeling slightly amused at the fact he was thankful at all that Joey existed. He vaguely wondered why he was bothering to hide the fact that Atem did drugs. Under normal circumstances he honestly wouldn't care. Granted, anyone who did hard drugs on a regular basis was never someone he would want to associate with, but if Atem was just doing weed he didn't give a shit. No, what was a big deal, was the fact _Mokuba_ wanted to associate with someone with the audacity to _show up_ high.

“Seto.”

Kaiba looked up, feeling his head ache. His head hurt to focus on Mokuba and think about anything else at the same time. Mokuba must have said something in that moment, because he rolled his eyes.

“You're hungover, right?”

Kaiba cringed internally, almost embarrassed that his brother had noticed. He refrained from responding.

Mokuba squinted, “Did you drink _more_ after getting home last night?”

“It's none of your business.” Kaiba replied indignantly.

“Whatever. Just. Promise you'll apologize to Atem. And...try to be friends with him again. Or at least nice to him when I invite him over.”

“We were never friends in the first place. And you're not inviting him over again.”

“You can't stop me.”

Kaiba grit his teeth. He really didn't want to argue. He never wanted to argue. This was Atem's fault. If Atem hadn't shown up fucking _high,_ then it would be easy to stomp out his pride and _tolerate_ him enough to appease Mokuba. If he brought it up, it wouldn't matter. Mokuba was determined, and would only get angrier. He'd have to take matters into his own hands somehow.

“Alright.” Kaiba replied as calmly as he could.

“Alright to what?”

“I'll be... _friendly_ toward Atem. For you.”

“R...really?” Mokuba blinked, and then got a suspicious look on his face, “With no ulterior motive to get him to stop hanging out with me?”

Kaiba shook his head, and was too slow to stop the automatic roll of his eyes, “Of course not.”

Mokuba frowned.

“You don't trust me.” Kaiba said, more as a statement than a question.

“I know you know you can't stop me, but you can stop him.”

“I want whatever you want, Mokuba,” Kaiba sighed, and pressed his fingers to his temple, trying to seem sincere, “And if that means I have to swallow my pride, so be it.” He looked up to see Mokuba staring blankly back at him.

He was suddenly tackled into a hug, “Thank you! This means so much to me!”

He decided he wasn't going to have his first plan be to drive Atem away. That was going to be a target on his head. No, the first plan was to drive into whatever was left of Atem's brain that he'll have his head on the wall if he ever shows up high again. Possibly make him sober up completely, but that would be too much investment. As long as he hadn't become an addict, and knew how fucking dead he'd be if he provided Mokuba any sort of window into that kind of thing, it was fine. He would choose to be fine with it.

Kaiba sincerely returned the embrace, happy to have appeased his brother, and Mokuba eventually got up to leave.

“I do need one thing,” Kaiba said before Mokuba could go, “Atem's number. If you wouldn't mind.”

“What? You don't know it already?” Mokuba teased.

“It's probably listed on his online store, but it would be a lot less out of my way to get it from you.”

“He has an online store?”

Kaiba quickly came up with an excuse as to why he knew that, “He's a freelancing artist. You think he sells his paintings on the street?”

Mokuba shrugged, “Didn't really think about that. Kay.” He swiped a few times on his phone, and Kaiba's phone vibrated soon after, “Sent you the contact. Are you going to work now? Want any help?”

Kaiba shook his head, “Yes I'm going to work and no I don't want you to help.”

Mokuba frowned, “Well...I'll get Isono to make you something! Knowing you, you haven't eaten yet.”

Kaiba stiffly nodded, picking up at tablet from the side table.

“Any preferences?” Mokuba tilted his head.

“Surprise me.”

“Kay.”

Kaiba sighed as the door closed behind his brother. He knew Mokuba was only being so cheerful to make Kaiba feel guilty later if he betrayed him. And it was going to work. But he wasn't going to throw away the option to scare Atem away from his brother if he had to. If he absolutely had to.

 

_It’s time to d-d-d-d-_

Atem quickly rolled over and hit answer on the phone, “Hello?”

_“Hey...I’m heading over now if that’s okay.”_

Atem pulled the phone away from his face to check the time. It was 3pm. He hadn’t been able to sleep, and the rain had cancelled plans for working on the mural, so he’d finally been exhausted enough to pass out later in the morning.

He put the phone back to his ear, “Alright...see you...soon.”

_“Yeah.”_

Atem pulled himself groggily out of bed and started to put himself together. The water refused to heat up for the shower, but he figured that he’d be better for it anyway. After picking up the refill from Aleister, he’d invited him to hang out. Aleister spent only about thirty minutes to get high with him and leave, and Atem had only felt empty afterward because of it. It hadn’t taken any of the edge off and he hadn’t slept well even when he finally passed out.

He stepped out of the bathroom in his towel and cringed. He’d neglected to open the window, and the room still smelled pretty strong. He quickly dried off and pulled it open.

He went over to his dresser and pulled out some decent clothes. A dark blue tank top that didn’t have any paint stains, and some grey skinny jeans that had gradually been torn at the knees from use, but in a way that looked somewhat appealing with the way the inner fabric clung across the gap. He tried styling his hair up, which felt strange after tying it up so often that he gave up and pulled it back. He fumbled through his art supplies for his eyeliner. He used it more often to line the eyes of the duel monsters he painted than he used it to paint himself. The brush was a little clunky from being used on a flat surface like that, but it did the job.

He took a deep breath, frowning. If he could still smell it, it would be painfully obvious to anyone who _didn’t_ smoke. He shoved his foot under the bed, feeling for the box and kicked it to the wall. The probability that Yugi would look under his bed was pretty low, but it comforted him to push it as far from sight as possible.

He sighed. If Yugi asked, he wasn’t going to lie about smoking. He couldn’t, and he wouldn’t be able to think of a good excuse, or at least one Yugi would believe.

Atem heard a small knock on the door and paused. It was so gentle, Atem thought he might be imagining it. He approached the door, and there was another, more assertive knock. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Yugi was standing there, looking small and unsure, hugging his arms to his chest. He was wearing a purple button-up, black pants, two belts, and bracelets. His hair was a bit lopsided and his eyeliner a little messy.

They looked each other up and down for a minute before finally meeting eyes.

“Atem?” Yugi asked, with a nervous smile.

Atem gave a sad smile, “It’s good to see you, Aibou.”

He was quickly embraced. Yugi wrapped his arms around him tightly, his body immediately beginning to shake, and his face buried in Atem’s neck. Atem hugged back with just as much force and he noticed his shoulder quickly becoming damp.

Yugi pulled back to look at him, with a smile and tears on his face, and immediately embraced him again. Atem stroked his hand across Yugi’s back, feeling how much his own hands were shaking as he did so. Feeling Yugi wrapped around him again completed a puzzle he hadn’t realized was missing a piece. It felt wonderful, even if Yugi was openly sobbing against his neck. He hadn’t realized how touch starved he had been since he’d left, and held Yugi tighter to try to make up for all the time he’d gone without this sort of affection. Yugi’s small, slender frame fit against his perfectly.

But Yugi pulled away, and smiled shakily at him. He sniffled, and wiped his arm across his face, laughing weakly, “I’m sorry…I didn’t expect to...be so emotional…”

“It’s fine,” Atem replied gently, and glanced back into the apartment. He was going to suggest they go inside, but the longer it was put off, the better.

“Can I come in?” Yugi asked, still sniffling and wiping the wetness from his face.

The eyeliner on Yugi’s face smudged slightly and Atem involuntarily smiled a little in amusement and pity. He looked back into the room and back at Yugi, “Yes…”

Yugi looked at him uncertainly, and Atem sighed, motioning to the door, “You first.”

Yugi put his hand against Atem’s cheek, catching him off guard as Yugi pressed his cheek in his hands, as if checking to see if he were real. He then smiled and retracted nervously, stepping inside and began to look around.

Atem closed the door behind them.

Yugi slowly turned around, “So...this is where you’ve been living?”

Atem crossed his arms across his chest, vaguely nervous about how much he wanted to touch _Yugi’s_ face to make sure _he_ was real, and also insecure about Yugi seeing his apartment for the first time, “Yeah.”

Yugi looked around, “It’s nothing like I...imagined…” Yugi sniffled again, “But it’s very...you.”

“Well. It’s nothing like the chambers of my palace. But it’s…” Atem trailed off. He was going to say home. But that didn’t feel right when home was standing right in front of him.

Yugi wandered over to stack of paintings, and looked back at him, “Can I?”

“Yeah.” Atem replied shakily, walking over and gently lifting off the top painting. Yugi silently looked over a few and then put them all back.

“You’ve gotten really good at painting,” Yugi said, “I’d love to hang one up.”

“You can pick one.” Atem replied quickly, “Or if you...tell me what to make, I’ll do it for free.”

Yugi laughed and shook his head, “It’s fine. If you want, I can’t stop you from giving me one before I go.”

Atem smiled and gave a small nod. He’d seen Yugi linger over a painting of the Silent Magician, probably because he’d used that monster to defeat Atem in the ceremonial duel. He’d never thought of painting a Silent Magician to give to Yugi, because it had always felt like it would give the wrong signal, but maybe it might come across as a sincere gesture after seeing each other again.

Yugi glanced over at the bed and back at Atem. Atem quickly sat down and pat the spot beside him, and Yugi joined him. A short silence filled the room.

“...I was worried that…I’d never see you again.” Yugi mumbled, barely loud enough for Atem to make out the words.

“How have you been, truly?”

Yugi hugged himself slightly, “I’ve been...okay. Staying...busy. I spend a lot of time with Joey, and Tristan comes around pretty often. I still run the shop. I’m developing my game…”

Atem looked to the window nervously. He didn’t know whether Yugi was acting tense because of the smell, the apartment, or him. He heard Yugi sniffle again, and realized the sobbing has blocked Yugi’s nose. He probably couldn’t smell at all, or not very strongly. It gave a little relief to Atem’s anxiety.

He looked over and brought a hand to Yugi’s face, gently wiping the moisture from his partner’s eye. He suddenly had the thought that they weren’t partners anymore. It had been years. But seeing Yugi again felt like it hadn’t been that long. He was still very much the same.

“I’m glad you haven’t changed a lot.” Atem said quietly, with a smile.

“You have.”

Atem winced.

Yugi shook his head and quickly looked back at the stack of paintings, “You paint Kuribohs a lot. Are they your favorite now?”

Atem blinked. He really hadn’t noticed he painted Kuribohs often enough to make Yugi think so just by looking at a few in one stack. In truth it was sort of an embarrassing realization - they sort of reminded him of Yugi, “No...do I really paint them that often?”

Yugi smiled, “There were a couple I saw. Then is Dark Magician still your top choice? Or is it Blue Eyes?”

Atem blinked again, “Why do you think Blue Eyes?”

Yugi motioned to the painting on the wall, “You hung up the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon on your wall, so I thought…”

“Oh. That. No, it’s just the mural I’m painting on the side of _Game Begin._ ”

Yugi immediately frowned, “...You know…” He folded his arms tightly to his chest, "Kame Game is only afloat because of me. If I wasn't still popular..."

Atem quickly interjected, "But you are. And you're making your own game, and you've got your friends supporting you. You can do anything."

"Our."

"Huh?"

Yugi was now staring a hole into the ground, "They used to be _our_ friends."

"I still...care about all of you."

"Then why did you leave?"

Their eyes met, like before, when Yugi had been at the door, but this time it was much less welcoming and loving. There was a hopeless, helpless, hurt sort of feeling emanating from Yugi’s eyes.

"We haven't been able to find you or contact you since you left. I was scared that you...that you..."

"That I...what?" Atem asked numbly, feeling his own eyes water as he watched tears stream down Yugi's face.

Yugi sniffled, and wiped his arm roughly across his face, “I had so much hope when you didn't go through those doors that day, and it hurt when I learned that sometimes you regretted that decision. I told myself I was just paranoid, you just decided to move out, but with how it all happened, when you left I was scared that you...wanted to be with them. Your old family. Your old friends. The ones you wanted to protect, back then. The whole reason you ended up here in the first place.”

"Yugi-"

"But you're alive. So I should be happy. But I don't feel happy at all. For some reason it feels worse."

“Yugi…”

Yugi violently wiped at his eyes and then sighed, “Joey’s helping me run the shop now. Tea finally made it to New York. Tristan’s working in his father’s factory...but volunteers at a dog kennel from time to time.”

Atem looked down and tried to blink the moisture from his eyes, “See, you’re all doing just fine without me.”

“ _Yeah_ , we’re doing _fine._ But not because you’re gone,” Yugi now sounded angry and upset, “We used to be so close. I knew you weren’t happy, but I thought we could get through it. We always do. We always did.”

“There was nothing you could do, Yugi-”

“So you left? Without a word, without an explanation, you think that would fix anything?”

“You already knew I was trying to-”

“I didn’t know, Atem. I knew you looked at apartments. You told me you were thinking about moving out. You told me you weren’t sure. I told you I’d help you, I’d support your decision even though it hurt me. Then one day I woke up, and you were gone.” Yugi’s face was streaming with tears, “Why? What were you thinking?”

Atem wondered why he was so calm, why he wasn’t crying, but realized how much he was shaking as his voice wavered, “I knew you weren’t going to let go of me.”

“You wanted me to?” Yugi said in a betrayed whisper.

“I…”

Yugi looked around the room, and down at the floor. His crying had paused, but it was still in his voice, “Did you get new friends?”

“I…” Atem trailed off. He wanted to mention Keiko, or Syo, or even Virgil and Aleister. But that wasn’t true, and he couldn’t bring himself to lie before Yugi noticed his hesitation.

“You don’t…” Yugi sighed, with a sort of bittersweet laugh, “You...don’t have any friends?”

Atem remained silent.

“So you’ve been alone...all this time?”

Atem bit the inside of his cheek painfully.

“Is it selfish of me to say...I’m almost...relieved?” Yugi paused, “I thought about calling you, all the time. You left your phone on the counter. I had no way to contact you…”

“Yugi…”

“Did you know I was always scared you’d one day just disappear? That the Gods would just...decide to take you back. You were _supposed_ to leave, after all.”

“Yugi-”

“I never thought you’d choose to disappear like this. If someone told me back then, I’d tell them they were crazy.”

“Yugi.”

“Sometimes I’d pretend you just locked yourself up in your room. When we had the duel, I was almost prepared to let you go, but then you chose to stay, and I didn’t have to make that decision anymore. I got comfortable, thinking you’d always be there.” Yugi was starting to sound hysterical, “I even got annoyed with you around all the time.”

“Yugi.”

“That was selfish of me, why would I get annoyed, I didn’t appreciate you enough-”

“Yugi, that’s enough.”

“I was always happy when you were around, you never felt like a burden to me, did I make you feel like-”

“Yugi, please-”

“I only made it where I am today because of you, without you I-”

Atem grabbed Yugi and pulled him roughly into his arms, tightly wrapping around him and burying him into his chest and Yugi’s hysteric mumbling fell into bawling. Atem ran his hand through Yugi’s hair, gently rocking him to try to help him calm down. Certain movements only made Yugi cry harder. He stopped petting his hair, and rubbing his back was no good either. He felt his eyes begin to water listening to Yugi sob. He held him for a long time. Yugi would occasionally grow quiet for a moment and start up again, loudly, or he would be calm for a solid moment and Atem would try to speak, causing it to start again. Eventually Yugi wore himself out, and Atem cradled him affectionately.

Yugi pulled away, looking absolutely exhausted. Atem put his hands on the sides of Yugi’s face, and kissed his forehead, and pressed his own against it, “I’m sorry for doing this to you.”

“It’s alright…” Yugi replied quietly, his throat raw from the pathetic sounds he’d been making for the past hour.

He pulled back, with his hands holding Yugi up just below his shoulders, “Do you need anything?”

Yugi laughed pathetically and hiccuped.

Atem smiled worriedly, “Are you okay?”

“No, but it’s...fine.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I think I should go…”

Atem gripped Yugi’s shoulders a little tighter.

Yugi seemed to notice and gently nudged Atem’s hands away and moved off the bed and toward the door.

“Please don't leave yet, Aibou.”

“I really hope that...you find happiness, and you get to do all the things you want.” Yugi stopped and looked back at Atem, looking quizzical through his swollen, tear stained face, “Do you still miss them? Your past?”

Atem felt his own waterworks coming on, “Yes. But not as much as I miss you.”

Yugi smiled weakly, “You’ve always known where to find me.” and left before Atem could move to stop him.

Atem swallowed and went to the window and shut it. He sat down on the bed, feeling a numbing feeling wash over him.

_D-d-d-d-duel!_

Atem looked over at his phone and picked it up, immediately setting it to silent. The notification for a text message from a number he didn’t recognize floated on the screen, and he decided to check it. He didn’t have anyone he could talk to. Maybe he could spill it to some unfortunate stranger. Unless it was just spam.

 

> **0X-XXXX-XXXX:** Atem

He sighed, typing in a reply, hoping this was a real person. Possibly someone talkative. Maybe someone Virgil gave his number to for an unknown reason. There was a variety of reasons Virgil would give out his nunber. The latest being he had possibly sent someone to anonymously yell at him for not letting Virgil crash at his place. Other answers involved trying to hook him up, or outsource him to a new dealer or partygoer.

 **You:** Did Virgil gave you my number?

 

> **0X-XXXX-XXXX:** Yeah.
> 
> **You:** Great.
> 
> **0X-XXXX-XXXX:** Not gonna ask for my name?

Atem sighed.

 

 

> **Lowlife:** What’s your name?

Kaiba smirked. Atem was being very bland and short with him. Virgil was either someone Atem didn’t like, or someone who gave out his number to strangers often. He needed to find out the possible circumstances under which Virgil could have “given him” Atem’s number.

It was later in the day and Kaiba was getting bored with work, and had decided to message Atem and mess with him a bit. He figured a girl’s name would be the best approach.

> **You:** My name is Hinata~
> 
> **Lowlife:** Why did Virgil give you my number?
> 
> **You:** I’m not sure…
> 
> **Lowlife:** Are you...cute?

Kaiba almost laughed aloud. Was Atem being so tactless on purpose? What kind of girl would not be offended by a question like that being asked right off the bat? Kaiba mulled it over. He wanted to fuck with Atem, but the temptation to immediately uncover his actual identity and humiliate him for asking a question like that was pretty strong. He resigned to keep up the ruse.

> **You:** Well, I think I am. Are you?
> 
> **Lowlife:** Not really.

Kaiba frowned. Was he trying to scare “Hinata” off?

> **You:** Hmm. You’re right. You don’t sound very cute.
> 
> **Lowlife:** I’m sorry.

_Sorry?_ Kaiba would have to sound less threatening to keep Atem talking.

> **You:** I’m sure you’re better in person
> 
> **You:** What are you doing right now?
> 
> **Lowlife:** I’m in bed.
> 
> **You:** Doing what~?
> 
> **Lowlife:** Laying down.
> 
> **You:** Wearing what~?
> 
> **Lowlife:** Clothes.

Kaiba tsked. Atem was either not interested, in a bad mood, or disliked this kind of flirting, but Atem kept replying nonetheless.

> **You:** How was your night? (smiley face)
> 
> **Lowlife:** Bad.

Kaiba thought back to the conversation he had with Mokuba. He had mentioned Atem was supposed to see Yugi. Had it already happened? Had it gone poorly? Or had plans been cancelled, and Atem was throwing a fit?

> **You:** Wanna talk about it?
> 
> **Lowlife:** Do you really care to hear about it?

_Well that was easy._

> **You:** I’m willing to listen

It took a moment for the first message to arrive. Kaiba focused back on the screen in front of him until he heard the phone begin vibrating restlessly.

> **Lowlife:** My closest friend came to see me today
> 
> **Lowlife:** And I totally fucked it up
> 
> **Lowlife:** Way before he came today
> 
> **Lowlife:** And he blamed himself for it, but it’s all my fault
> 
> **Lowlife:** At first, I was so happy to see him again, it’s been so long
> 
> **Lowlife:** He’s barely changed, it felt like just yesterday we were living together
> 
> **Lowlife:** But fuck, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to hug him
> 
> **Lowlife:** He just started talking hysterically, he sounded so angry and sad and was blaming himself for all of my mistakes
> 
> **Lowlife:** And he was crying
> 
> **Lowlife:** He cried for at least an hour, he kept calming down and starting up again
> 
> **Lowlife:** I held him I tried to comfort him I just wanted it to stop
> 
> **Lowlife:** It hurt so much to see him like that and it was all my fault
> 
> **Lowlife:** I love him so much, I just wanted him to be happy

Kaiba stared at the messages as new ones finally stopped popping up. The apparent reunion had gone badly. Kaiba wondered if Atem could possibly be crying at this moment. The idea made him severely uncomfortable. He wasn’t good at comforting people, and wasn’t sure if he really cared enough. If it was Atem’s own fault like he was saying, then Atem was simply facing the consequences. Yugi was a crybaby when push came to shove. Atem of all people knew that.

Kaiba went back to thinking like “Yui,” the complete stranger, and scanned over the messages again. With the way he talked about Yugi, to a stranger who was unfamiliar with their bond, it sounded like he was talking about an ex-lover. It might be cruel, but if Atem could possibly be the kind of person to be ashamed, then he’d have some more flames to fuel the fire later.

> **You:** Are you gay?

Kaiba stared intently at the screen. It took a moment for the reply to appear.

> **Atem:** I think so. But the person I’m talking about is only a friend.
> 
> **You:** Have you ever been with a man?
> 
> **Atem:** I don’t want to have this conversation.

Kaiba paused. If he was too rough, Atem was probably going to stop replying. He decided to backtrack.

> **You:** Sorry about what happened
> 
> **You:** But if it is all your fault then you deserve the consequences
> 
> **You:** And you have to make up for whatever you did wrong

Kaiba felt odd saying things as if he had any sympathy for Atem’s situation. If it was Atem’s fault, and Yugi and Atem had really been apart for the entirety of the past three years, Atem deserved whatever retribution he received for it. Besides, from what Atem had told him, it wasn’t like Yugi had yelled at him or anything. They had a cry fest with some weirdly affectionate hugging for people who are not romantic, and not siblings, that was it. Atem was just being too empathetic.

> **Atem:** You’re right.
> 
> **You:** Of course I am.

There was no reply for a short while. Kaiba focused back on his work until the phone buzzed.

> **Atem:** Do you want to...meet up sometime?

Kaiba snickered. Didn’t Atem just admit to being gay? Or was he desperate for anything he could get? Of course he wanted to “meet up.” Kaiba would show up as himself and freak Atem out.

> **You:** I’d love to, your place Friday night~?
> 
> **Atem:** Sounds good...I mean I was going to go to a party, I could skip or you could join me?

Kaiba wondered what _kind_ of party Atem was talking about. Regardless, he wasn’t accompanying Atem whether he said yes or no. The only parties he ever attended were mandatory for his image or his company. Parties were excessively unappealing.

> **You:** That sounds like so much fun!

If the night went well, he’d successfully drill the fear in Atem’s skull about getting high anywhere near his brother before the end of the week. Then he could pretend to be civil for the rest of his life, and not worry about Atem any further. Atem was just a coward, hiding his face from the friends he had seemingly scorned, which solved the mystery of why Atem hadn't posted any pictures of himself, and he was a drug user who went to _parties_ , where he probably also did drugs.

He saw more messages pop up, a simple reply and Atem's address. He didn’t bother replying and got back to work, feeling slightly better now that he had something to look forward to at the end of the week.

 

* * *

  **Author’s Note:**

Throwback to my 8th grade music taste for the title. Relient K has some bittersweet bangers.

This story is like really personal for me, and not gonna lie, I’m projecting on Yugi a whole bunch. Also sorry if this chapter is a little clunky. I didn't know how to go about writing a lot of the things I wanted to happen. It's kind of all supposed to be awkward anyway.

The next update will be two weeks from now, since next week I’ll be super busy with job corps stuff and pride festivals. Still not sure when I’ll be heading off for job corps, but hopefully it still won’t be _too_ soon.

**Next Update: June 22nd**

~James


	8. Don't Play With Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One update: apparently the name I posted as Kaiba's pseudonym in the last chapter is different than the one I ended up changing it to in the actual document. Somehow. So. Whoops. It's fixed in the previous chapter now. His pseudonym is Hinata (but the name itself isn't actually important just don't wamna confuse you)

White light from a screen lit up Atem's exhausted face in the darkness of 4am. He hadn't been able to sleep, only toss and turn until he eventually gave up. He laid in bed, his back propped up against the pillows, with his nose buried in his tablet and a rolled blunt in his left hand. He'd spent the last hour mindlessly taking obscure quizzes on a site called “Quink.”

Originally the subject matter had been pretty heavy. He took quizzes titled “Are You a Good Friend?” and “How High is Your Self Esteem?” To his dismay, results were “You could work on it: I think you need to devote more time to your friends,” and “4/10: Your self esteem is a pretty low, this is just a dumb online quiz and I'm not a psychologist, but you should probably talk to someone about it.”

This eventually delved into less heavy topics as the effects of the marijuana really settled in.

What dog breed are you?

 **Chihuahua:** A tiny, lively dog devoted to its owner.

He scoffed a little at this result. A dumb internet quiz, likely created by a teen girl, tells him he's a chihuahua. Laughable.

What is your aesthetic?

**Grunge**

Atem looked up pictures of the aesthetic, and what showed up seemed to be images depicting existential crisis, cigarettes, and depression. It was like emo but a little more artsy, and more about existential dread than death. It would never be an aesthetic he'd identify himself with, but if he bent the cookie cutter just a little bit he might fit.

What mythical creature are you?

**Unicorn**

Atem briefly toyed with the joke that he got a unicorn because he's always horn-y. Nevermind the fact that he was indeed a virgin, and that lined up unfortunately with some of the lore he had heard about unicorns.

The next quiz he came across was titled: How pretty are you? (GIRLS ONLY)

“You can't tell me what to do,” he mumbled to himself and clicked on it, taking a deep pull from the blunt. The quiz asked various questions about looks, but questions about his hair and eyes he couldn't answer accurately all things considered. Some questions were about his job, and unfortunately artist wasn't apparently an option. The oddly specific questions about income and housing gave him an inkling that how _rich_ he was was going to translate into how _“pretty”_ he was, according to the logic of the quiz.

 **Kinda ugly tbh:** Sorry! You must have an amazing personality, though.

He rolled his eyes.

“What is your sexuality?” popped up in the suggested quizzes. He sighed and clicked.

A lot of these questions were about previous partners. Considering he'd never been in an actual relationship, this was pretty humiliating to answer.

He felt a bit silly when questions popped up about preferences and he actually put thought into his answers.

Do you prefer your partner to act masculine or feminine? Or does it matter to you?

Questions about who pays for the meal, does someone wear the pants in the relationship, questions that really came off more as a feminist survey than a dumb quiz made by some teenager on the internet.

The last question was literally “do you like boys, girls, or any gender?” If he definitely knew the answer to that, he could probably figure out his sexuality on his own. Apprehensively, he clicked “boys.”

 **Autosexual:** Attraction to oneself because you only find disappointment out in the dating world, so you decided to become autosexual and love yourself (winky face)

Atem blew a thick cloud of smoke over the screen, thinking that result was sort of bullshit. He supposed the only dick he got was his own, but that didn't mean he didn't _want_ to get more.

He felt a little uneasy looking down the list of more suggested quizzes.

Who’s Your Perfect Guy? What’s the First letter of Your Next Boyfriend’s Name? Are You a Lesbian?

Atem briefly choked on the smoke at that last one, entertaining the thought of taking it for shits and giggles.

Who is Your Celebrity Soulmate?

That one was a little more ambiguous. Though, if he’d learned anything from all the quizzes, most of these were aimed at very...feminine individuals. It was likely the site was going to shove his gayness in his face with some hot male celebrity, but he was too high to mind it anymore.

Biggest Turn On?

 **[Confidence]**   [Wealth]   [Humility]  [Talent]

Biggest Turn Off?

    [Egotism]   [Seriousness]   [Awkwardness] **[Anger]**

How Do You Like Your Coffee?

 **[Black]**   [With Creamer]   [Drowned in Sugar]   [No Thanks]

Are you:

    [Outgoing]    **[Introverted]**

Pick a Color:

    [Red] **[Blue]**   [Grey]   [Orange]

Last Question (a bit tmi) - do you want some excitement in the bedroom?

 **[Yes]**   [I’m vanilla]   [Sex?] [Why would you ask this]

Atem quickly hit submit on the last question and the page reloaded.

 **Seto Kaiba:** You got the rich and handsome CEO of Kaiba Corporation! He's a big media presence but keeps to himself in his off time, takes his coffee black, and besides duel monsters, he’s responsible for tech that make people's lives easier! Family is also really important to him, and his younger brother Mokuba is hard to spot without him when they’re out in public. Seto Kaiba may be described as selfish and egotistical in the media, but fans speculate there's a big warm heart underneath that cold exterior! Some accounts of his alleged sexual partners claim he's “intense” in bed...but of course, he’s never bragged about it publicly. Congrats, your soulmate is the full package (winky face)

Atem gripped the tablet so tightly while reading this, the glass screen began to strain. He exhaled deeply and shut the screen off, placing it gently on the end of the bed and sat there until he’d finished off the blunt. He wrapped the remains in napkins and shoved it into the bottom of the bin in the room and wandered over to the bathroom door.

He stripped off his underwear, cringing as his erection stood up as the restrictive fabric was removed. He wanted to laugh-cry. What the hell did “intense” mean? He could make a few guesses.

He stepped in and stood beside the shower faucet, letting the water heat up as he couldn’t help but start to touch himself. It was a bit upsetting when he thought about the fact that he’d probably already screwed up any chance he _might_ have had with Kaiba. Those thoughts were pushed aside in exchange for mindless euphoria and the intensely pleasurable sensations of his elevated state.

He leaned back against the wall, palming himself roughly as he felt the air of the room slowly humidify. He grabbed the soap and started lathering himself underneath the stream of water, moaning audibly as his dick became slippery and easy to jerk faster and faster. It occasionally slipped from his hand and the water pressure engulfing his cock made his legs tremble.

In his apartment complex, it wasn’t uncommon to hear the neighbors getting it on. Usually, however, it was usually much later in the day, or even earlier in the morning. Atem didn’t really give a shit, though - it wasn’t like anyone was going to file a noise complaint, ever. Besides, he was high, and it felt really, _really_ good. He practically screamed when he eventually came.

He watched the thick, white fluid drip from his tip and get swept down the drain by the water. He’d barely noticed the water hitting his face the entire time, but finally noticed the chill of his back. He turned around, lightly squeezing himself, just enjoying the sensation as his balls lightly ached from the force of the ejaculation.

He rinsed out his hair, conditioned it, and then stood under the water for a while, letting it begin to run cold again. After the heat was almost entirely gone, he shut it off and let himself drip-dry a bit before toweling off and starting breakfast.

His phone buzzed on the counter as he sat down with his meal. He reached across, almost falling from the chair in the process of leaning to get at it, and swiped it up.

Notifications for messages from Hinata appeared on the screen.

> **Hinata:** Good morning, hope I didn’t wake you?

Atem yawned and shot back a quick reply, shoving a forkful into his mouth.

> **You:** It’s fine, I didn’t sleep
> 
> **Hinata:** Oh? This about your friend?
> 
> **You:** Sort of

Atem bit his lip. He didn’t know when to stop sharing personal issues.

> **You:** Also sort of. Reflecting. On a recent screw up.
> 
> **Hinata:** Hm? You messed up again?
> 
> **You:** I didn’t do it on purpose. It was a mistake. A big mistake. Probably never gonna get a chance to redeem myself from it.
> 
> **Hinata:** Do you deserve to redeem yourself?

Atem frowned. She was awfully pushy, but he thought it over seriously.

> **You:** That’s really not up to me
> 
> **Hinata:** Anything else going on?
> 
> **You:** I mean, nothing important?
> 
> **Hinata:** Boring.
> 
> **Hinata:** You get high?
> 
> **You:** Yes?

Atem cringed as he snapped out of his thoughts and realized that he realized he had been carelessly scraping the fork against the bottom of the bowl. He placed it down and scrolled through his phone until another message appeared.

> **Hinata:** Cool. Do anything fun?
> 
> **You:** I took online quizzes for an hour. Don’t ask why. I was bored.
> 
> **Hinata:** Oooh what did you find out?
> 
> **You:** It’s all dumb shit.
> 
> **Hinata:** Come on. Give me the details.

Atem sighed and gave in, spilling the intimate details of what dog he is according to the quiz, and what animal he was in a past life. He skipped over the relationship quizzes. This chick probably already thought he was pathetic, but was still talking to him anyway. He had previously divulged to her that he thought he was gay, and he wondered why she was still interested at all. He was thankful she was, however.

Eventually the time to get up and leave came around, and he finished getting ready and walked out. Her answers steadily became sparse, varying in time in between but she still always answered even in only one-word replies. The conversation was pleasant, funny even, with her one-word quips and sarcastic remarks. She was a little inconsistent in tone, but the sarcasm was ever present. He couldn’t help feeling there was something she was hiding, but he didn’t want to decide that he cared. It was nice having someone to talk to, and he didn’t want to screw it up.

He was glued to his phone until he arrived at the mural site. Keiko was already there to greet him.

“Mr. Muran!” She greeted and bowed. Everything was all set up, and Syo was already there too.

“Morning, Keiko, Syo.” Atem said and quickly cleared his throat. He sounded as if he’d just woken up, despite being awake all night. His eyes were also beginning to feel it.

Keiko gave him a worried look, “You look tired.”

Atem smiled tightly, internalizing the fact that he probably looked like human garbage from the lack of sleep, “I’m fine. Let’s get to work.”

She nodded, but lingered a moment before hopping away to grab some brushes. Atem felt his phone buzz again, and quickly opened up the message notification.

> **Yugi:** I had to tell Tea. You know I can't hide anything from her.

Atem’s tired eyes burn into the screen until his vision starts to blur.

“Atem?” Keiko asked meekly, snapping him back to reality.

He quickly shut off the screen and shoved it in his pocket, and dove into work. He was just going to ignore it until he couldn’t anymore. He didn’t even know how he would respond - Ok? That’s fine? That makes me feel supremely uncomfortable but you have every right to tell her and I have no right to keep you from doing so? That’s not fine? That’s really, really not okay with me? It doesn’t sit well, it hurts?

Atem worked intensely. His phone buzzed again and he couldn’t stop himself from checking.

> **Hinata:** I know you’re a fun artist and you can’t relate, but work is killing me right now
> 
> **You:** My coworker keeps looking at me like something died on my head
> 
> **You:** I didn’t sleep so I guess I look dead
> 
> **You:** Also feel pretty shit
> 
> **Hinata:** I mean with that hairstyle you do look like you’ve been struck by lightning

> **You:** You know what I look like?
> 
> **Hinata:** Well someone told me your hair looks like if Yugi’s fell flat, and he looks like he touches an electric fence in order to do his hair up every morning.

Atem chuckled at the analogy.

“Who you talking to? A girlfriend?”

Atem almost dropped the phone, startled by Keiko’s voice.

“Wh-what? Why would you think that?” Atem asked nervously, shoving the phone back in his pocket and resuming work.

“Sorry for assuming, but you were really invested in your phone and you know, sort of smiling and laughing. It’s not like I’m gonna judge you for having a crush.” Keiko explained.

Atem nervously laughed, “It’s nobody, really.”

She looked suspicious but went back to work, and Atem thought about how he had epicly failed to deter her. It had only served to assure her assumption - a wrong assumption, but he wasn’t able to remedy the situation at all. He was too tired and stressed out.

Moreover, he liked men. But, thinking about it, of course the everyday person would expect him, a guy, to get a _girl_ friend. On the subject of a romantic partner, his mind slipped back to the stupid quiz he had taken earlier in the day, the one that brashly told him _Seto Kaiba_ was his “celebrity soulmate.” He solemnly banished these thoughts and focused back on the task at hand.

 

Mokuba rolled his heels as he patiently waited for the elevator to reach the top floor. Since he had a half day again, he decided to head straight to the tower and hang out with his brother, and probably get some work done. After the tech was released, he hoped Seto would finally take a vacation of some sort, or at least time off. He’d even settle for only going as far as KaibaLand as long as Seto didn’t touch a computer screen for an entire day.

The doors opened and he stepped out, walking past the secretary without returning her greeting, and allowed himself into his brother’s office. Strangely, Seto seemed to have been very focused on his cellphone before being intruded on. He looked sort of startled and placed the phone face down.

“Hey Mokuba.” Seto said, a little _too_ casually.

Mokuba gave him a weird look, and plopped down on the couch, “What’s up Seto?”

“Hmm?” Seto asked, in the way he did when he was dodging a question and acting preoccupied.

Mokuba sighed and closed his eyes, “Nevermind.” His brain was fried from testing all morning. The subject matter wasn’t hard, but it was mind numbing. He listened to the white noise of Seto diligently working, as always, and sort of wished he didn’t insist on doing most of the logistical heavy lifting himself. Seto was such a perfectionist, and that was obviously killing him.

The pattern of the movements was strange today, though. Mokuba opened his eyes and glanced over, watching his brother intently. Every few minutes Seto would check his phone. Sometimes he would type something before putting it back down.

Business partners talked in phone calls and emails, and Seto was obviously texting. It couldn’t be the secretary, she would’ve come in by now, and it couldn’t be Isono - there was a strange expression on Seto’s face. That really egotistical expression when he was messing with someone, the one he used to get during duels when he knew he was going to win.

Mokuba watched for a while longer, wondering who he could be talking to. Possibly a hook up, and come on, was Mokuba really going to turn a blind eye to all the times his brother made a point to let him know he was “staying at work late, don’t wait up” or “to be in bed and stay there” before he got home?

When he was younger it made sense to enforce a bedtime, but as he got older his brother mostly left him to face the consequences if he decided to stay up late.

However, the expression was a little too malicious to be just that. And unless he was really invested in some mystery girl, he was paying too much attention to his phone.

Mokuba closed his eyes again and sighed loudly, only to be ignored. He resigned and started to drift into a nap when he vaguely heard Seto suddenly stand up. Mokuba’s eyes slowly opened, and he looked over to see Seto putting on his coat.

Seto looked over at him, “I’m going to check up on the mural. I suppose you can come along.”

Mokuba yawned, stretching out his arms, “I wanna go.”

Seto nodded and walked toward the door and Mokuba trailed behind him.

Seto was behaving strangely, but Mokuba tried to keep his thoughts to himself. Sometimes asking questions was more trouble than it was worth.

Two other cars escorted their car on the way there, and Seto and Mokuba waited in their seats for a moment as their bodyguards pushed back the paparazzi. Mokuba felt really annoyed that they couldn’t go anywhere without drawing so much attention, especially in Domino. Taking precautions against the unwanted attention made it even worse, but unfortunately was necessary to keep the _really_ crazy fans at bay.

Mokuba felt really anxious following his brother out of the car. He seemed oddly calm in his motions, but his calm expression seemed forced. They brushed past the guards to the side of the building, where Atem and the others quickly stopped to greet them.

Mokuba raised an eyebrow as Atem gave a formal bow, and raised both eyebrows as Seto unflinchingly returned the gesture with the same sincerity. Atem was probably still shaken up by what happened at the mansion, maybe Seto was trying to make up for it? Or he was messing with him. Which Mokuba knew his brother was petty enough to do.

Atem was visibly taken aback, and smiled weirdly before quickly turning to Mokuba.

“It’s good to see you again, Mokuba, and Kaiba.” Atem stumbled over his words, and almost bowed again, but this time only by nodding his head.

“Mr. Kaiba,” Atem’s coworkers said in unison and each bowed.

This was really clumsy so Mokuba tried to approach in a friendly manner, wondering why Kaiba was just standing there silently like a weirdo, “Hey Keiko!” He stepped over to her, trying to close off Seto from Atem’s coworkers by physically getting between them and engaging them in conversation. Atem could...probably handle Seto’s scrutiny, at least better as someone who knew him personally at one point.

“It’s good to see you again, Mokuba,” Keiko replied with a charming smile that made Mokuba’s stomach turn slightly.

He couldn’t stop the nervous chuckle that escaped him. He saw Syo turn and get back to work, and heard Kaiba ask Atem casually about the mural. Everything seemed...fine.

Keiko awkwardly looked away and picked up her brush again, “If it’s ok, I’ll keep working, but I’m happy to keep talking with you.”

Mokuba smiled and nodded, finding all words suddenly stuck in his throat. He was a bit distracted from eavesdropping on his brother for the rest of the visit, and even a little upset when Seto finally dragged him off. He would’ve stayed behind like he had on Sunday, but with the way Seto was acting, he really didn’t want to leave him alone.

Safely back in the car after being escorted through an accumulation of paparazzi, Mokuba squinted at Seto. He was staring pointedly out the window, and must have noticed the staring because he shifted slightly and then looked back at him.

Seto was wearing the same calm expression, but this time it was authentic, “Do you and Keiko get along well?”

Mokuba noticed a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He blinked and rolled his eyes, taking his turn the look pointedly out the window. He heard Seto lightly chuckle and felt the tension dispel from the atmosphere. Something about visiting Atem had calmed him. Mokuba glanced at him, noticing how relaxed he seemed, and felt a bubble of doubt begin to surface again.

“You’re not messing with Atem, are you?”

“Of course not.” Seto replied, not looking at him.

“Come on, it’s the one thing I asked you not to do.”

“No, you asked me to be nice to him. I was nice to him, didn’t you notice?”

Mokuba could feel the tension started to rise and sighed, “Being fake nice to manipulate someone isn’t the same as being nice.”

He watched Seto take a deep breath.

“Mokuba, I need you to trust me on this.”

“Why?”

“I’m gathering information. That’s it.”

“What? So you can use it against him? Why do you hate him so much?” Mokuba was infuriated.

Seto spoke back through clenched teeth, “I told you already, I don’t _hate_ him. If I use information against him, it’s because he deserves it. But that’s not the _point.”_

“Then what _is?_ Why should I trust you?”

Seto sighed deeply, putting his head in his hands. Mokuba felt his defensive attitude slip immediately.

“I’m trying the best I can.”

Mokuba brought his arms up to his chest, and shifted in his seat. He already knew that. The car came to a stop and the silence continued to stretch on until Seto finally sat up.

“Do you want to eat somewhere?” Code: Help me with this excuse to put off work. Sub code: Let me make it up to you.

Mokuba nodded, and Seto seemed to hesitate for a moment.

“Do you want to invite Yugi to come along?” Code: I _really_ want to make it up to you.

Mokuba blinked and nodded enthusiastically, “If you give me his number I’ll invite him.” He knew Seto had access to it. Yugi worked for a sub company under Kaiba Corporation after all. Seto’s wording was also very clear: do _you_ want to invite Yugi. The moment Yugi would hear Seto’s voice he’d be suspicious. He’d still be suspicious about Mokuba after all this time, but if there was no mention of Seto, it was a lot less likely Yugi would be apprehensive about it.

This was a good thing. Seto was finally accepting everyone back into his life, or at least, Mokuba’s life. Finally accepting that Mokuba was his own person and Seto shouldn’t have cut them off from him in the first place.

 

Kaiba felt a bit guilty watching the excitement light up Mokuba’s face. Sure, he was trying to pass it off as acceptance, but really he just wanted to trap Yugi in a situation and make him talk. He’d really been dancing around to get a full scope on what Atem’s like after the years apart, and still wasn’t entirely sure he wanted him around Mokuba.

Atem seemed harmless enough, dumbed down even. Atem was careless about sharing personal information with a “stranger.” Or maybe it was just the fact he was high. Either way, manipulating information out of him as Hinata was amusing at least. Unfortunately he knew Mokuba was way too observant for his own good and had caught onto it quickly. Yugi would be a good distraction, and at worst, he was a decent mediator. Maybe he’d even stomach dinner with the rest of them if it kept Mokuba out of the loop until everything was settled.

He listened to Mokuba excitedly inviting Yugi to lunch, noticing how carefully he tiptoed around mentioning him at all. He supposed it was better that way, not that Yugi would turn the invitation down if he knew the CEO of the parent company he works for invited him. It just might be a little less tense leaving that part out.

The details were arranged and the car pulled out to head to a _slightly_ less upscale restaurant than the places they would usually eat. Mokuba assured Kaiba it was where he wanted to eat, but Kaiba already knew it was solely to scare Yugi slightly _less._

The brothers arrive first, and the hostess looks like she’s going to faint when she gets them seated and asks about refreshments and selections, especially when Mokuba quickly cuts her off and sends her away to wait until Yugi arrives. She looks even more pale as she leaves and Kaiba can’t help but roll his eyes as he pretends to look at the menu.

“Can we just get desserts? Yugi loves sweets and I’m not that hungry.”

Kaiba sighs deeply, “A plate for the table of _actual_ food. Then you can go nuts.”

“Okay okay.” Mokuba sighs.

Kaiba glanced over at the hostess as Mokuba looked through the menu in his peripheral vision. After a moment, the doors opened and a familiar, slightly confused-looking spiky haired duelist wandered through. Surprisingly, he didn’t look out of place in such an establishment, besides the anxiety he wore on his face. He was nicely, and neatly, dressed. He wore a simple back button-up with a clean white tie tucked into a grey vest and black slacks.

The hostess grabs his attention, but not before he sees Kaiba wave at him from the table. Kaiba can’t help but smirk as Yugi goes white as a sheet. He delicately takes his seat next to Mokuba, looking as if he’s going to fall over as Mokuba obnoxiously orders for the table.

The hostess leaves and Mokuba welcomingly wraps an arm over Yugi’s shoulder, and pulls him into a side hug. Kaiba bite his tongue, knowing full well Mokuba’s too excited to listen to him even if he did bother telling him to cut it out.

“It’s so good to see you again Yugi!” Mokuba chirped with Yugi’s cheek pressed awkwardly into his shoulder. The sight was kind of hilarious, knowing in context that only a few years prior, Mokuba had been shorter than Yugi. Kaiba wondered if the difference would be as obvious as when he saw Mokuba and Atem side by side. Of course it would. Yugi and Atem had always been the same height.

“G-good to see you too…” Yugi replied nervously before finally being released from Mokuba’s grasp. Mokuba immediately delved into conversation, and Kaiba didn’t mind sitting quietly, observing the way Yugi eventually regained his composure, except every time he glanced and noticed Kaiba staring.

Water and soda were brought to the table, along with a large tray carrying an array of sushi. Kaiba dove right in with his chopsticks, starving after once again skipping breakfast, and let Mokuba handle the formality of thanking the hostess for the extra they had added on the house. Kaiba was well past the point of being annoyed by it - it was customary for restaurants give celebrities extra food on the house, and it was honestly more annoying to watch them stutter if you insisted on paying for it or complained at all. He chewed thoughtfully and he looked up at Yugi’s wide, uncertain eyes.

“Dig in!” Mokuba encouraged after the hostess finally left them alone, and he reached in with his own chopsticks.

Kaiba watched intently in his peripheral vision as Yugi delicately picked up and ate a sushi roll. Luckily Mokuba had grown out of letting his excitement overpower his manners (to an extent) and most of the sushi was finished in relative silence.

Mokuba rambled about how he had been doing. The friends he made at school, complained about the boringly easy testing, and raved about graduation. It was refreshing to hear Mokuba talk about it as if it were all new, and it reassured Kaiba that despite the teenage rebellion he’d been displaying lately, Mokuba seemed to be living a relatively happy everyday life.

“Do you want to come to my graduation?” Mokuba asked.

“If you’re inviting me, I’ll be there.” Yugi replied, and quickly put a glass to his lips and glanced at Kaiba.

“I’ll make sure you have the day off.” Kaiba said absently.

The tray of sushi was replaced with plates of fancy desserts. The soda glasses were taken and replaced with a set of beautiful white ceramic tea cups with hand painted cherry blossom motifs. A matching teapot was placed in the center along with a plate of cute, flower-shaped wagashi.

Yugi looked a little overwhelmed as the hostess left. Mokuba shoved various sweets Yugi had probably never had the funds to indulge in under his nose and Yugi timidly enjoyed them.

Kaiba took this opportunity to be a _bit_ of an asshole.

“How are things with Atem?” He asked casually, pouring himself more tea.

Mokuba kicked him under the table as Yugi Paused with a biscuit almost to his lips. He put the biscuit down and his mouth curved nervously, “I don’t know, I haven’t seen him much.”

“Oh?” Kaiba asked, sounding disinterested. Mokuba kicked him again and Kaiba locked eyes with him. Yugi was busy looking down at the plate now and didn’t notice Kaiba and Mokuba silently arguing by blinking at each other.

“I don’t really want to get into the details, but we don’t really talk anymore.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Kaiba replies, blinking firmly at Mokuba again only to be kicked. He lifts his foot and presses it down on top of Mokuba’s and Mokuba glares defiantly, slightly struggling to free it again while lightly tapping Kaiba’s shin with his other foot.

Kaiba looks over and see Yugi shove a biscuit in his mouth. He legitimately looked a little upset, and Kaiba almost felt bad. If only Mokuba weren’t kicking him under the table. Then maybe he would actually feel bad.

“I suppose you still have the others?” He said, and gave Mokuba a sarcastic look. Mokuba finally relented and leaned back, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah. Joey helps me run the shop, Tristan’s pretty busy but he hangs out on days off. Tea visits from abroad when she can.”

Right. Yugi still runs _Kame Game._ It must feel like a bit of a betrayal if Yugi knew Atem was painting a mural for the shop’s biggest competitor in the city. Atem had really become an asshole, apparently.

Yugi paused and then shook his head, “You know, I’m really glad to see you and talk to you again, I guess, but why did you invite me here?”

“If you want me to be honest,” Kaiba responded before Mokuba could speak up, “I’ve recently realized it wasn’t fair for me to include Mokuba in my decision to cut of contact with you, and Atem, and your...other friends. So I’ve invited you here to reconcile.”

Kaiba bit his tongue while he watched Yugi think it over. He was only being half honest, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t telling the truth at all. Sure, he was collecting information about Atem without his knowledge, but didn’t he do that to just about everyone anyway? It wasn’t _that_ big of a deal. Your personal life isn’t personal if someone can find a way to make you talk about it.

Yugi seemed to accept the half-truth and smiled, “I’m glad you’ve finally come around, Kaiba. It must be lonely.”

Kaiba’s eye twitched, and he knew Yugi had noticed, but Yugi continued without faltering.

“How have you been all this time? How is work?”

Mokuba awkwardly poked a gelatin star, making it wobble, and Kaiba felt himself waver.

“It's...fine. Kaiba Corporation is working on a new technology. Once we're past animal testing, which is really just a formality at this point, I'll need a few volunteers to be the first to use it.”

“Oh. Are you asking me to volunteer?”

“That's...not really how volunteering works. I'm just saying the opportunity is open to you.”

Yugi smiled coyly, “I'll think about it,” He poured himself some tea, “You didn't really answer my first question.”

“Hm?”

“How have you been? It's been a while. I see you on TV all the time but I figure that's not the same thing.”

Kaiba blinked, “I've been fine,” and mulled the taste of that answer in his mouth. It tasted like all the times he had thrown up in the past two weeks.

Mokuba quickly changed the subject, and Kaiba was thankful as he had felt the mood shift uncomfortably. The rest of conversation seemed pleasant, even sitting on the outside. Watching Mokuba make himself laugh, and the stories Yugi divulged to him about things that happened at the shop or out with Joey and Tristan, it felt sort of surreal and made the time pass quickly.

After an hour Kaiba finally called enough, and Yugi said his goodbyes. Kaiba offhandedly mentioned he’d make sure he didn’t lose pay for the time he’d missed and Yugi thanked him with a bright smile.

Mokuba wouldn’t stop grinning at him as they left the restaurant.

“What.” Kaiba asked in annoyance when they sat down in the car.

“You had a good time, huh?” Mokuba was beaming.

Kaiba rolled his eyes and kicked his leg, “I’m going to have bruises on my calves because of you.”

“That’s what you get for being an asshole.” Mokuba stuck his tongue out.

“Watch your fucking language.” Kaiba replied sarcastically and smiled as Mokuba laughed.

The car ride back to the tower was pleasant. Kaiba felt strange, supposing that, in another life, he and Yugi could have been close friends. If only he shared that same sentiment about Atem.

“If you want to know,” Kaiba said, breaking the silence as they stopped at a light across from the tower, “I was playing dumb to confirm some of my suspicions.”

Mokuba sighed, “Whatever. Just don’t be a jerk about it. Yugi seemed really upset.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes, “I’m sure he can handle it.”

“I think I’m gonna go home. Take a nap. Too much excitement for one day. Unless you need my help?”

Kaiba shook his head, “Go ahead.”

Kaiba stepped out and waved Mokuba off as the car pulled out again to take Mokuba home. He turned and rode the elevator up to his office, sat down at his desk and pulled out his phone.

> **Lowlife:** Sorry I got...distracted.
> 
> **You:** Me too, you still there?
> 
> **Lowlife:** yeah um
> 
> **Lowlife:** sort of related to our earlier conversation
> 
> **Lowlife:** one of the quizzes I also took was like “who's your celebrity soulmate?”
> 
> **Lowlife:** like I'd ever end up with a celebrity, right?
> 
> Kaiba laughed and began to type as another message popped up.
> 
> **Lowlife:** I took it for shits and giggles of course
> 
> **Lowlife:** ...and you know who I got?

Kaiba rolled his eyes

> **You:** Who?

There was no answer for a while. He sighed, he wasn’t that invested in the answer but it was annoying that Atem wasn’t finishing off the topic immediately. It would just be a name, and there was no discussion to be had about some random celebrity he got as the result of some teen girl’s online quiz.

The phone buzzed again and Kaiba let it sit for a minute as he finished up the paragraph he was reviewing.

> **Lowlife:** Seto Kaiba

Laughter immediately burst from his chest, and he had to smother the cackle with a hand over his mouth. It took a moment to be able to read the next message that popped up.

> **Lowlife:** Don't laugh but like

_Don’t laugh._ Too fucking late.

> **Lowlife:**  I think he's really hot

Kaiba paused. The thoughts refused to connect for a moment, but eventually it finally clicked. He supposed it ought to be flattering, considering Atem had already confessed his preference for men. It wasn’t strange, in that context, for Atem to find him...attractive. In reality it shouldn’t actually be flattering at all, considering what a loser Atem was now in person. There were plenty of lowlifes who looked up to him.

He felt the sarcasm drip like venom from his fingers.

> **You:** What, you jerk off to the idea of him?
> 
> **Lowlife:**...

Kaiba blinked, feeling something possess his hands to immediately delete the conversation and shut the phone all the way off. He wasn’t going to allow himself to process this new information. He was going to work. No distractions. If anyone needed him they could get to him through his secretary.

He’d brought this revelation upon himself, and now he was going to pretend it didn’t happen.

 

* * *

**Author’s Note:**

Welp. This was a fun one to write. I really wanted to lighten the mood a lot, and I wanted to really kick start the _burn._ Man, if only I’d saved Aspiring Fires for this chapter title. Oh well, I don’t care _that_ much!

Also the site he’s using “Quink,” funny story I mean originally I was just like Quiz+Think and then it got gay and I was like “Wait...Queer+Twink also works oh jeez” I actually looked around and took some of these quizzes - I even spun off some of the _actual_ answers I got.

I'm posting this from my phone in case I don't get home/can't get on my computer before the end of the day. Also not double checking anything rn. Spending time with fam today. Very family friendly fic amirite.

Thank you so much for all your support! I’m really bad with replying to comments, but I promise I read and cherish every single one. You guys are the best and I never imagined I’d get such a positive response! Please keep letting me know what you think!

**Next Update: June 29th**

~James

[p.s. I keep adding songs to my playlist for this fic so click here to learn how much of a weird music nerd I am](https://open.spotify.com/user/alifelineofpages/playlist/7E6NL82bvfxxl1ln8FyVGQ?si=PBwmXi-_RIC1U0p-36tMAg)


	9. Vertigo

Kaiba woke with a start, sitting up in bed so quickly the room spun. His head throbbed like he’d been hit with a car. As he collected himself, he vaguely remembered the events of the night before.

He’d worked late, into the early hours of the morning before he finally headed home. Mokuba had come down to greet him when he arrived, but Kaiba shook him off and told him to go to bed. Then he’d sat down on the couch and drank in the dark until he passed out. Isono had helped him up to his room at some point, and that brought him to the present moment.

Kaiba squinted at the room, his head still dizzy. He was hungover once again, and felt a bit strange about the light peeking through the edges of the curtains.

He felt a jolt rush through him as he remembered work. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, and fell into the wall as he stood and the room tilted in his vision. The thud must have been pretty loud, as Isono rushed into the room almost immediately.

“Master Kaiba-”

Kaiba’s eyes darted over to the alarm clock, it was almost noon, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Apologies Master Kaiba, but I think it’s in your best interest if you-”

 _“If I what?”_ Kaiba sneered, feeling his head pound as he struggled to keep himself upright.

“...If you take the day off. You’re not well. I cleared your morning and early afternoon with your secretary. If there was anything important, trust me, I would have woken you up despite my best judgement.”

“Get out.” Kaiba snapped and headed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. He listened for Isono’s footsteps and heard the door close and then leaned against the door, gripping his head. He really needed to stop drinking so much.

He stripped down and stood under the showerhead, letting the hot water run down his clammy skin. He slowly decreased the temperature until it was frigid, and then turned it off. He pressed his hand to his forehead. It was still pretty warm, but the cold water seemed to lower his fever significantly.

He dried off and wrapped his towel around his waist before stepping back into his room. Clothes were laid out for him and he grimaced. He picked out a button-up from his closet and paired them with the rest of the outfit, hanging the black turtle neck back up. The light blue button up would make him appear a lot less pale, and maybe not as lifeless. He avoided looking at his own face as he combed his hair in front of the mirror.

He grabbed his briefcase, slipped his phone into his coat pocket, and headed downstairs. A sweet-smelling scent wafted up from the lower floor and he felt his stomach tighten painfully. His feet carried him unwillingly toward the kitchen, where he found Isono plating a full breakfast and a small parfait. He gripped the handle of his briefcase tightly.

Isono looked up, “You should eat before you head out. Mokuba should be heading home soon, maybe you can also spend some time with him before you leave. You don’t have anything scheduled until 3.”

Kaiba placed the briefcase down by the door, noticing how much he was shaking as he let go, and then briskly walked over to the table to take a seat. He frowned at the way Isono lit up; Kaiba was unwilling to admit to himself that he needed the time off, no matter how short. Isono placed the meal in front of him, along with a mug of coffee and a tall glass of water. Isono then bowed and left.

Kaiba instinctually reached for the mug, and then slowly pushed it away rather than grabbing the handle, and frowned while taking a sip of the water. He ate, enjoying the silence, listening to the faint chatter and footsteps of the few servants bustling around the house dusting everything. He couldn’t help the small tinge of guilt in the back of his mind, that he should be working, focusing on the company, everything was hanging in the balance while most of their resources were pooled into one project.

He reached into his coat and pulled out his phone, staring at the black screen and briefly wondered if it had gone dead. He powered it up, and the KC logo popped up and briefly loaded before the home screen appeared. His head throbbed and his stomach churned as an overwhelming sense of dread washed over him.

Why had he turned off his phone? Had Isono turned it off?

Kaiba stood up so fast it knocked the chair over and ran to the sink, leaning over it as he threw up his meal. Once, twice, a third heave. A brief moment passed before more came up. Then, acid came up, burning his throat, causing him to start hacking. His thoughts left him entirely as he painfully puked the entire contents of his stomach.

Through the coughing and involuntary puking sounds coming from his throat, he could hear Isono shuffling around and the front door open.

“Hey I’m-” Mokuba began to call out, then abruptly stopped, “Seto?”

Footsteps quickly approached the kitchen.

Seto leaned into the sink, weakly turning the water on to wash the obscene, barely-digested food down the drain as he continued to uncontrollably gag. At this point it was impossible to play it off. He could feel himself sweating from the strain. His legs were shaking as he held himself up over the sink, his throat dry heaving and burning as his stomach occasionally mustered up more acid to come pouring out.

He heard Isono attempt to usher Mokuba away, and then felt Mokuba’s hand on his back.

“Hey are...are you okay?”

Kaiba gagged loudly and Mokuba stumbled back slightly. Kaiba weakly gave a sarcastic thumbs up with one hand, with his face still dipped into the sink with the water rushing right next to his face.

“You should leave him be, I will make sure he’s cared for.” Isono stated, which made Kaiba close his eyes tightly in shame as he breathed shallowly, the gagging finally beginning to calm down.

“No, I’ll stay with him...” Mokuba replied.

The ragged breathing and coughing continued for some time, he felt sweat drip down his nose from his forehead and felt the discomfort of the extreme heat of his entire body, and shed off the coat. Someone grabbed it and he collapsed to the floor, leaning with his forehead against the cabinet door under the sink.

He listened to shuffling before he was leaned back, and a cool wet cloth was pressed to his face. He keeps his eyes closed, ashamed of currently feeling so fatigued it made him helpless, feeling pathetic and disgusting. The cloth was wiped across his mouth and chin, and then discarded and replaced with another cloth pressed against his forehead. He kept his eyes closed a willed his breathing to slow down, to appear calm.

Mokuba then attempted to lift him, “Come on Seto.” Isono rushed over and put his arms underneath from the other side and they both carried Kaiba into another room and set him down on a couch.

He was left alone for a moment and he silently hoped Mokuba would just leave him there to die, until he heard more shuffling. He lifted one eyelid to see Isono setting up a standing fan near him.  He groaned and put his arm over his face. He was really too weak to protest. He’d just thrown up his guts and his throat was burning from the stomach acid and the coughing.

His head was then lifted and a pillow was placed under him.

“Do you think he’ll puke again?”

Kaiba flipped the bird in the direction he had heard his brother’s voice.

“Is that a yes?”

Kaiba groaned and gave a thumbs-down.

“Okay.”

Kaiba heard some whispering and then someone leave. He felt the fan blow cold air on him.

“Is that okay?” Mokuba asked.

Kaiba pried his eyes open and glared over at him.

Mokuba’s eyes widened, “Dude. You look dead.”

Kaiba tried his best to give the most sarcastic smile he could muster.

Mokuba rolled his eyes, “I’m serious. I think we should call a doctor to look at you, at least.”

“I’m just…” Kaiba croaked, cringed at his own scratchy voice, and grit his teeth while continuing, “Hungover.”

Mokuba crossed his arms, “Do you want to be alone?”

Kaiba waved his hand dismissively and closed his eyes, hoping Mokuba would take the hint.

“Do you _really_ want to be left alone like this?”

Kaiba pointed his finger up, indicating _“go upstairs.”_

“Is it because you’re sick, or because you’re embarrassed about it?”

Kaiba tensed and didn’t say anything, keeping his eyes firmly shut.

Mokuba audibly sighed, “Come _on._ Isono babies you because he knows you could just up and fire him if he spoke out too much, but seriously. You get all butthurt whenever I call you out but you can’t get rid of me. Stop being a dumbass.”

Kaiba dug his nails in his palm.

“I know you’re not actually listening. You’re just getting more embarrassed and closing up, like always. You’re literally going to die if you keep doing this.”

Mokuba was being demeaning, but there was something in the way he said that last sentence that struck a terrible chord. Kaiba felt himself collapsing inward, his entire body tightening, trying to supress how shitty he was feeling.

A sob choked out from his throat, breaking through all the tension in Kaiba’s body to escape before he tensed again tenfold. It came out in an odd squeak and that made him want to cry more. Or drink. Drive a car straight into a wall. This was humiliating. Mokuba shouldn’t worry about him at all. Everything was fine. He should be the one worrying about Mokuba, end of story.

When the sound escaped, Mokuba abruptly stood up.

“Oh god, you’re really sick.”

Kaiba’s eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly, ignored the dots that began to cloud his vision, threatening to blind him as he looked over at Mokuba, whose eyes widened significantly.

“I should…” Mokuba looked around frantically, and then called out, “Isono, call the doctor! I don’t think it’s urgent but I think he needs to be looked at!”

“Right away!” Isono replied panickedly.

Kaiba felt his face trembling, and moved himself to a full sitting position, trying to smile reassuringly as his vision cleared, “I’m fine.”

Mokuba shook his head, “You should lay down until he gets here. Just in case. Trust me, you look really bad.”

Kaiba gave him a confused look, “I’m fine,” but his voice was so hoarse it was barely audible.

Mokuba frowned and then reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He tapped on it a few times, and then held the screen up to him, the camera showing him what he currently looked like.

His bangs were plastered to his face from the sweat and the wet washcloth. He looked so pale his complexion was almost blue. His ghostly appearance was heightened by the dark bags under his eyes. His eyes themselves were red and watery, one had a pocket of blood, probably from a vein that had ruptured due to the strain of puking so violently. He looked like a ghoul, and blinked at himself just to make sure that was really _him_ on the screen. Mokuba slowly lowered the screen.

“You’ll let the doctor see you, yeah?” Mokuba said slightly timidly, “You won’t argue about it?”

Kaiba stared at him for a moment and then nodded. He laid back down slowly, and stared up at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

After a moment, he made a motion for his phone toward Mokuba, who got up and came back with it.

Kaiba stared at it for a moment and remembered. Atem had admitted to “Hinata” that he was attracted to him. His head throbbed. He dropped the phone onto the floor and pressed his cool hands to his his eyelids.

He’d brought this all on himself. Karma really was a bitch.

He suppressed the urge to let out an exasperated laugh. How ironic was it that Atem was apparently so attracted to him, what would he think seeing him like this? He wouldn’t be caught dead being seen like this.

But Kaiba realized it was sort of trivial to think about Atem at all at a time like this. He could see the way Mokuba was fidgeting nervously in his seat in his peripheral vision. Atem was the least of his problems. It wasn’t Mokuba’s job to take care of him, or worry. He shouldn’t have to. Kaiba knew letting himself waste away wasn’t an option. If he was gone, he would no longer be able to take care of Mokuba or Kaiba Corporation, and those responsibilities were his and his alone.

 

Atem frowned at his phone. Hinata had abruptly stopped responding after the confession about Seto Kaiba. He had stopped himself from sending any other messages. She was a complete stranger, her opinion shouldn’t matter so much. If she was going to judge him for an attraction to someone who was already popularly sought after by people of all genders, then she could fuck right off. It was possible it was a misunderstanding, her phone died or something, but his mind wanted to jump to the worst conclusions. He kept checking his phone for another message, an apology of some sort, but nothing new popped up so far.

Even if she was a stranger, the prospect of being judged was upsetting nonetheless. She’d reacted decently when he admitted he was attracted to men, but did she suddenly have an issue when he expressed an interest in a specific one? It made no sense. Unless she had just liked fucking with him. He sighed, and tossed his phone onto his bed.

The weather was poor again today. It had only been sprinkling in the morning, but light grey clouds lingered in sky, and he didn’t want to risk working on the mural. Besides, he’d stretch it out for as many Wednesdays and Sundays he could just to see Kaiba. Kaiba had acted strange during his last visit...oddly...nice? Polite? It gave Atem the slightest bit of hope that he hadn’t entirely screwed up. Of course, he’d threatened him about showing up high again, but that was to be expected. It was also a little humiliating to admit that he hadn’t played duel monsters in the past few years, but Kaiba didn’t linger on the subject. Kaiba hadn’t been participating in tournaments either, and unless he played against Mokuba in private, it could be assumed Kaiba was in the same position. Kaiba had even made small talk about the mural. It was nothing personal, but the effort was obvious, and Atem hoped it hadn’t been obvious how nervous he had felt.

Atem swirled the brush around the edge of the Dark Magician Girl’s dress. The Dark Magician Girl always sold fairly well, if he just exaggerated a few of her...features. He didn’t particularly enjoy exploiting her design, in fact he always felt a bit guilty, considering this was technically Mana when he stopped to think about it. So he preferred not to think about it. It was just a way to pay the bills.

“Sorry Mana, and thank you,” He muttered to himself, pushing down any ideas about the kind of men who bought these paintings.

He put the finishing touches and placed the wet canvas delicately aside before grabbing another blank one. He began lightly sketching out the next piece.

He decided to make it Kaibaman, solely because it was a duel monster, and not because it was based on Kaiba. He snorted at the thought that Kaiba had requested it himself, and laughed more at the alternative option that Pegasus was just that much a fanboy of his business rival.

Well, he was one to judge.

When sketching out other humanoid duel monsters, Atem never really thought much about the construction of their bodies. It was basic shapes, anatomy. He could guess most of the time. Even with Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, representative spirits of Mahad and Mana respectively, it had never really felt that strange. But this was... _technically_ Kaiba.

Kaiba was practically just a bean pole these days. He didn't have enough fat on his bones to compliment the muscles that used to be so present - but of course Atem was going to be generous. He wasn't drawing Kaiba. He was drawing Kaiba _man,_ obviously. He could be idealistic, and then ultimately ruin it anyway with that dumb Blue Eyes getup.

Atem really didn't stand a chance against Kaiba's obsession with Blue Eyes. Whether that was legitimately the fault of Priest Set's affection for Kisara or not was unknown. He preferred to say it wasn't, since the former suggested he might not even be interested in men. But if it was, would he really be attracted to women? Or just dragons? Atem snickered.

So, he continued constructing the body. He was self-indulgent with the proportions of the pecs and abs. He got off track, trying not to think about his hips or the dip into his thighs as he numbly traced over the existing construction lines.

He picked up his phone. There were plenty of pictures of Kaiba on the internet to reference for...proportions. He found his eyes dipping between the legs of each full-length photo. He thought back about the “whole package” joke in the quiz he had taken. He quickly sketched out the legs, and then a shape clinging to the inner thigh and bit his lip, quickly running the eraser over it and found himself redrawing it.

Kaiba would _probably_ be hard wearing that dorky get up. The dragonfucker. He cackled to himself, pressing the pencil lightly while he drew a _generous_ shape down the thigh of the character.

Was he really going to sell a picture of Kaibaman with a boner?

He'd make it more subtle in the final draft. This was fine.

He started sketching the helmet, and a large dragon towering behind him. He didn't have the mental stamina to actually paint it at the moment, so he put it off to the side and grabbed another canvas.

His pencil broke as he pressed down on it, feeling his hand shake as he thought about drawing the Silent Magician again, the monster in the painting he had wanted to give to Yugi, and hadn't.

_You've always known where to find me._

_I had to tell Tea._

He put the pencil down, and sat down and looked through his phone to find something to distract himself for the moment. There were a few notifications for emails about orders and donations and comments about his work, but no messages or missed calls.

He was surprised Tea hadn't called to yell at him, or berate him for the damage he had done. If Yugi had really worried about the possibility that he might have been gone for good, then he was sure it had probably been rough. Even though Atem had always been the clingy one after he obtained a seperate body, Yugi never failed to express his fondness for his counterpart. And Yugi was a very honest, emotional person.

He didn’t want to think about the way Yugi had cried during the initial confrontation about Atem moving out.

A message popped up and he quickly pressed it without looking at what it was, needing something for distraction.

> **Virgil:** Heeey

Atem hit the call button.

The line rung a few times before Virgil picked up.

_“Hey Yams.”_

Atem sighed, “For the last fucking time, don’t call me that.” He wasn’t in the mood to be polite about it.

_“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. What’s up?”_

“Are you busy?” Atem asked, already knowing the answer was no.

_“Nah, what, you need me for something?”_

“Meet me at the corner.”

_“You’re actually asking me to hang out? I usually have to drag you if it’s not a party. Or is it a party?”_

Atem grit his teeth, “No. Just be there. I’m heading out.”

_“Mysterious. Ok, be there in like ten.”_

Atem hung up and threw on some clothes. Just some sweatpants and a v-neck. He combed his hair up, deciding not to pull it back. He slipped into his shoes, pocketed his phone, and meandered out to his destination. It was just the corner on the edge of the complex. As he headed across the parking lot, he heard a door squeak open and closed, and looked up to see Virgil heading down.

He wasn’t a terrible looking guy, just a bit off putting with his floppy black hair and dark eyes. Atem had only seen him in three different shirts and they were all very long tank tops with large arm loops that showed off the sides of his ribs, and he always wore the same pair of baggy cargo pants with each of them. To add to this look, his arms were covered in tribal tattoos. He was short and scrawny enough to be mistaken for a minor, yet intimidating enough to be mistaken for a gang member. Neither of which were true.

Virgil bounced down the stairs and gave Atem a friendly two-finger salute when he noticed him. Atem nodded in response, and started heading down the street. Virgil jogged to catch up, his backpack thumping softly as it bounced with each step.

“Where we goin’ Yams?”

Atem sighed deeply, and pointed ahead.

“Fine, fine, don’t tell me.” Virgil sighed, “What’s up with you today? I mean, I’m honored you graced me with an invitation but-”

“Do you have anything to smoke or should I go back and grab mine?” Atem interrupted. He was going to need something if he was actually going to spend any time with this guy.

“Of course I do.” Virgil scoffed, “You think I go anywhere without it?”

Atem rolled his eyes.

“We could even-”

Atem held up his hand, “Grass only.”

“Mmm, just a walk in the park eh? You’ll pay me back right?”

“Sure.”

“I’m joking.” Virgil scoffed, “We’re friends. Unless you take up all my supply, then I’d need some compensation. But you’d probably pass out before you get halfway through.”

The two came up on a short fence and climbed over it, wandering through some trees until the were far away from the street in a small clearing. Virgil began rolling a joint using his thigh as a table, awkwardly trying to balance.

Atem grabbed his shoulder to keep him steady, “Hey Virgil…”

“Yeah?” Virgil asked, then pressed his leg up against Atem’s stomach to gain more stability.

Atem felt his discomfort rise at the close proximity, and wished Virgil to be done so he can put at least a foot of space between them, “Did you give some girl my number?”

“Hm?”

“This girl’s been texting me. Her name’s Hinata? She was pretty vague about why you gave me her number, but she said she got it from you.”

Virgil lowered his leg after finishing up and Atem immediately let go of his shoulder. Virgil held the joint and lit it up, taking a few puffs before handing it off, “I haven’t give anyone your number. When did she start talking to you? Did she send you pics?”

Atem choked at this as he inhaled and quickly cleared his throat, “Uh. Tuesday, and no, she didn’t send me any _pics.”_

“You’re misunderstanding me, Yams, if her face was in any I could...ya know, recognize her maybe. I haven’t given anyone your number in a while anyway, figured that was sort of pointless. I have no idea what your taste in women is and you always get mad at me when I try to hook you up.”

Atem bit his tongue, handing back the joint. Of course Virgil wouldn’t know his taste in women, because he didn’t have any. He liked men. Exclusively, which was becoming more apparent even when Hinata was so likeable over text.

Virgil was often forgetful and always full of excuses, so he could have forgotten or just didn’t want to admit to giving out his number. But the reply had sounded honest enough, maybe he hadn’t. But how else would a stranger get his number? Plus, she knew vaguely about what he looked like. Who had described him to her? If they had actually met before, maybe at a party where he had been high enough to give out his number, why would she lie and say Virgil gave her his number?

“Do you know who Hinata is?” Atem asked as Virgil took a few consecutive hits and passed it back to him.

“Doesn’t ring any bells.”

Atem frowned, “This is going to sound like a weird question.”

“Hit me.”

“How would you describe my hair?”

“Pfft. I don’t know. Crazy but in a cool way, I guess. Edgy. I like it spiked, like how it is right now. Looks dumb in a ponytail.”

“...No comparison to Yugi?”

“Huh?” Virgil asked, and squinted, before lighting up, “Oh yeah! You do look kinda like him! You related or something?”

Atem blinked and shook his head, “Not quite. But wait, you didn’t...notice the similarity before?”

“Nah, I don’t pay attention to that celebrities and crap much. Besides, you’re way cooler looking than that nerd.”

Atem felt a small laugh escape him, and then felt sort of insulted for Yugi. Sure, nerd was an entirely accurate descriptor, except when it was used as an insult. He let it drop, though, and kept wondering how the hell Hinata knew him in that case. Virgil couldn’t have described his hair like that if he hadn’t even thought to compare it to Yugi before.

They finished off the joint, making much less small talk, and then went their separate ways.

Atem pulled out his phone.

 

“I’ll be recommending a list of dietary supplements until you get settled into a regular eating schedule. Whether you eat in small increments throughout the day, or three times a day, it doesn’t matter. I recommend making time for rest at night, and if you can’t manage that, maybe a nap somewhere in the day.  I know you’re a busy man Mr. Kaiba, but you’ll be unable to work anymore if you keep up with your current habits.” The doctor hesitated, “You also need to decrease your alcohol intake. Luckily the symptoms you experienced today were not an onset of alcohol poisoning, but your blood tests show that your blood alcohol levels are dangerously high, and with the amount of stress you face, you’re extremely susceptible to a heart attack.”

Kaiba firmly nodded, barely moving his head at all. It wasn’t like this was surprise, but it was humiliating to hear his doctor so carefully pick his words. Of course the doctor was trying not to insult him, but the professional tone sounded passive aggressive in Kaiba’s head.

The doctor pressed a card into his hand and swiftly grabbed his things and left.

Kaiba watched him leave, and then looked down into his hand.

**If you want to drink, that’s your business**

**If you want to stop, we can help**

**Alcoholics Anonymous**

**0X-XXXX-XXXX**

He saw Mokuba wander back into the room as he tore the paper in half, and Mokuba then dove in and snatched it. Kaiba reached out to smack it out of his hands, but Mokuba deftly moved out of the way. Mokuba held the two halves together and laughed.

“Alcoholics Anonymous? Did the doctor give this to you?”

“Shut up.” Kaiba replied with a gruff voice.

Mokuba put the halves on the table and looked at Kaiba sincerely, “You know, it might not be a bad idea.”

Kaiba made a show of rolling his eyes, “I’m not an alcoholic.”

“Coulda fooled me.”

Kaiba threw a pillow at him, which Mokuba deftly dove past and laughed. Mokuba plopped down beside him and hugged him tightly.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Kaiba gently hugged back, awkwardly rubbing his hand over Mokuba’s back, attempting to be comforting. His phone buzzed loudly against the table multiple times. Mokuba’s embrace tightened significantly at the sound.

“Don’t look at it.”

Kaiba tried to pry him off, “Why not?”

“It might be work. You shouldn’t go today, and if it’s about work you’re going to go, I know it.”

Kaiba grabbed him arms and gently pushed him off, “I need to see if it’s important. It did go off three times.”

Mokuba hopped up, “I’ll go instead! You trust me, right? You don’t need to go, I can take care of it!”

Kaiba sighed, “Okay kiddo.” He reached over, picking up his phone and tapped the screen. The messages were from Atem. He suddenly felt a gut-wrenching nervousness.

“What is it?”

Kaiba shook his head, “Nothing,” and quickly opened up the messages.

> **Lowlife:** Where did you get my number?
> 
> **Lowlife:** I know Virgil didn't give it to you.
> 
> **Lowlife:** How do you know my name and what I look like?

Shit. Fuck.

“Is it important?” Mokuba said sadly.

Kaiba felt his mouth go numb, “Not at all,” and gently placed the phone back down. He turned to Mokuba, “Do you want to go to the theater room and pick out a movie? I’ll meet you in a minute.”

Mokuba frowned, “What is it?”

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose, “Do you want me to be honest?”

Mokuba frowned, and put on his thinking face for a moment before replying, “...If you promise to go to AA...I won’t ask.”

“I’ve been catfishing Atem.”

“WHAT.”

 

* * *

**Author’s Note:**

I’m sorry the chapter is late! My sister is home for the summer and we spent last week doing a bunch of stuff so I’ve had barely any free time. That might be the case for a while - my sister likes to drag me into stuff, so my update dates may not be entirely accurate, I apologize in advance.

Besides, 4th of July is coming up and I'll be dragged into festivities including annoying, scary fireworks ;~; Gr8 to be an American :/

Thanks y’all for supporting me and I hope you’re enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it! Let me know below ;3

 **Estimated Update:** July 6th

~James


	10. Face the Music

“So...you’ve been catfishing him”

Kaiba realized he really hadn't planned that far. The words had really jumped out of his mouth before he had time to think twice. It was simply a gut-reaction to avoid an obligation to sit in a room and endure what was _basically_ group therapy. Group therapy was even preferable to an AA meeting.

But how much did he really want Mokuba to know?

Mokuba made a point to dramatically roll his eyes at Kaiba's hesitation, “What are you expecting to learn? Why can’t you just talk like a normal person? You know, you _learn_ things about someone by being _friends,”_ Mokuba paused, “...Do you mean catfishing like...you were pretending to be a girl? Or?”

Kaiba thought quickly and rolled his eyes, “Why would I do that? You asked me to be _friends_ with him, do you think Atem would be so quick to accept _my_ open hand?”

“...I think he would, though.”

Kaiba blinked. His lies were falling flat. He was only succeeding to make himself look like an idiot.

“Did you learn _anything?”_ Mokuba sighed.

Kaiba mulled over his answer for a moment, and proceeded with a sneer, “I learned that your _dear friend Atem_ is a delinquent stoner. He's even going to a party tomorrow.”

“He's...a stoner?”

Kaiba smirked, “Surprised you didn't notice.”

Mokuba shook his head, “He's no worse than you.”

Kaiba laughed, “No worse than-”

“At least he's _nice.”_

 _“Nice_ doesn't-”

“You should apologize," Mokuba snapped.

“To a delinquent?” Kaiba asked sarcastically.

“He's just going through a hard time. Even I know that, and I didn't have to _catfish_ him to figure that out.”

Kaiba opened his mouth and was immediately interrupted.

“You should apologize. And make up for lying to him.”

Kaiba clenched his jaw, “And how do I ‘make up’ for that exactly?”

Mokuba hesitated, “...Go to the party.”

“Fuck no. Do you even understand what you're asking?”

“Frankly, Seto, I don't care.”

“No.” Kaiba retorted.

“You're the _self-proclaimed genius_. You can figure it out.”

“I'm not going.”

Mokuba shifted on his feet, but kept a deadpan expression, “If you won't then...go to AA.”

“ _No.”_ Kaiba suddenly felt a little childish, responding to his kid brother with nothing but simple denial. He'd really backed himself into a corner, but Mokuba was looking more uncertain the longer he kept his stance. Hopefully he would just give up.

“Then I'll tell Atem myself.”

“I can make sure you don't.”

Mokuba laughed, trying to sound defiant, but the nervousness was obvious to his brother, “Oh really?”

Silence clung to the air. Mokuba knew it was easy enough to keep him from calling or seeing Atem in a multitude of ways. Kaiba had done it to ensure he wouldn't be able to call the game shop for years. He had managed to get the number changed several times, even permanently block it from their private phone line. He would even occasionally cut out the service to Mokuba's cell phone. House arrest and threatening his would-be friends had also kept Yugi and the rest away. The prospect of going through that again when he just got Atem back into his life made Mokuba feel an ugly bubbling feeling of resentment.

He was at his wit’s end. He remembered the conversation with Atem, where he claimed to have all this 'dirt' on his brother. But that only worked in personal circumstances. He doubted personal embarrassment was really going to get Kaiba to budge. But there were things he knew that could have a more damaging effect.

“I'll...make a public statement.”

Kaiba's eyes widened, “About what?”

“About...anything, really. I've got a lot of ammo.” Mokuba's voice was shaking.

Kaiba stared at Mokuba for a long moment. It was the kind of threat that could irreversibly damage their relationship, Mokuba knew that. Mokuba despised public arguments, when the public came into personal matters it always fogged everything up. Depending on what public statement Mokuba was thinking of making, coming from his own brother, it could permanently damage Kaiba's reputation and the company. Mokuba wouldn't do that.

“ _Would you really?”_ Kaiba had a cold expression and a condescending tone, almost challenging Mokuba to _dare._

Mokuba's threat was nothing more than a bluff. He wouldn't go that far, and while a minor statement wouldn't affect Kaiba's reputation, the media would catch onto their disagreement and make everything worse. Kaiba's response almost made him want to go through with it anyway, but, acknowledging the consequences, Mokuba backed down, “...Of course not. You win. Are you happy?”

Kaiba didn't respond. Mokuba was  _really_ upset. Mokuba immediately ran upstairs. Kaiba sat still, and cringed at the loud _thwack_ of a bedroom door being slammed, echoing down the stairs. He sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands as he listened to Isono feebly try to comfort Mokuba outside the door only to be yelled away. Shortly after, Isono came down to talk to him about it.

“Are you alright Mr. Kaiba?”

“I need a drink,” Kaiba slumped against the back of the couch, “But I can't do that right now, can I?”

“I'd strongly advise against it, sir. Can I get you something else?”

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose, “Isono, I just puked out my guts and got lectured by my brother. Got anything for that?”

“I suppose time would be the best fix. You could take some to get some more rest.”

“Hmm.” Kaiba groaned, grabbing his phone.

If he decided to come out and tell the truth - it would be a win anyway, wouldn't it? Atem would be mortified to realize he'd unwittingly admitted his crush, and Kaiba could immediately _crush_ that pathetic little dream.

> **You:** I got your number from Mokuba.
> 
> **You:** Additionally, it's easy enough to get it from your website, or did you forget?
> 
> **You:** Hope you're embarrassed (heart)

Kaiba snickered, powering his phone off. Isono gave him a strange look, but Kaiba waved him away before heading upstairs.

He paused at the top, and slowly walked toward his brother's room, like an injured dog.

“Knock knock.”

“Go away,” Mokuba's muffled voice snapped from inside the closed room.

“Hey kiddo,” Kaiba said, trying to sound empathetic. No response. Kaiba felt his phone buzz in his pocket and ignored the urge to check it immediately, “I did what you asked.”

Silence.

Kaiba habitually rolled his eyes, “No strings attached. Just a product from _the goodness of my heart_ or whatever.”

Still nothing. Kaiba sighed, and turned to head toward his own room. Mokuba was just being stubbornly upset that his bluff would’ve failed had Kaiba decided not to go through with his request anyway. It would help if Mokuba would give him some sort of reassurance that this was really _necessary._ He was regretting the decision already, and waited until he got settled in bed to check his phone.

> **Lowlife:** You’re not…
> 
> **Lowlife:** You’re fucking with me, right?
> 
> **You:** No. I have been fucking with you. But I see you’d like that, apparently.
> 
> **Lowlife:** You’re an asshole.
> 
> **You:** So I’ve been told.
> 
> **Lowlife:** No.
> 
> **Lowlife:** You’re not Seto Kaiba.

Kaiba scoffed, and hit the call option. Two rings, and the line hung up. Kaiba was starting to feel a migraine coming on.

> **You:** What, do you want me to send you nudes first?
> 
> **You:** Not doing that, fyi.

He stared at the screen and ground his teeth together.

> **You:** Don’t fucking ignore me, I’m too tired for this shit.
> 
> **Lowlife:** Why?

Kaiba blinked.

> **You:** Why am I tired???
> 
> **Lowlife:** Why are you fucking with me?
> 
> **Lowlife:** Do you think it’s funny.

_Sort of. It was, before you confessed about your secret crush._

Kaiba began typing a reply as another message popped up.

> **Lowlife:** Don’t answer that. Just leave me alone.
> 
> **Lowlife:** You thoroughly humiliated me for showing up high, I’ll stay the fuck away, you got what you wanted.

Kaiba bit the inside of his cheek.

> **You:** ...Wait.

No reply. Kaiba groaned. He didn’t know what to say. He hit call again.

_“Leave me alone.”_

The phone hung up. Kaiba growled, and sent a quick message before hitting call again.

> **You:** Don’t fucking hang up.

_Ring….Ring…_

_“What do you want.”_

Atem’s tone was pitiful, and Kaiba swore he heard a sniffle afterward. Kaiba grimaced at the idea that Atem had immediately started _crying._ That was going to make this all the more difficult, and uncomfortable, since Kaiba presumed he was supposed to apologize. He furrowed his brow, and tried to think of something to say. Nothing he _wanted_ to say was at all kind, any excuse he could make for what he had to do was degrading, and he could think of nothing in between that would prevent Atem from hanging up.

_“What do you want from me?”_

“I’ll be there.”

The silence stretched on long enough for Kaiba to second guess his choice of words, or that he had chosen to speak at all. His throat was still sore, and would Atem even know what he was talking about?

_“...W...What?”_

“Tomorrow.” Kaiba replied stiffly, hoping Atem would connect the dots himself.

 _“...Why?”_ Atem sounded thoroughly confused, and slightly anxious.

Kaiba rubbed his eyes, trying not to audibly sigh, “For the party.” He was too exhausted for this shit.

 _“...Are you drunk? You sound very...uh…”_ Atem’s voice was shaking.

“No.”

_“Okay...why...would you still want to come? It’s really not...your sort of...party…”_

Kaiba ground his teeth painfully, “I’m aware.”

_“Are you sure you’re not-”_

“I’m not drunk.”

_“Does this mean…”_

“No.” Kaiba interrupted and immediately hung up.

He hadn’t even considered the fact that Atem _liked_ him. Or, the idea of him - Atem didn’t know him. If he willingly spent time with him after learning of those...feelings...Atem might interpret it the wrong way. Especially going so far as attending some ‘party’ with him.

Something about Atem turned him into a blathering idiot. He was usually so careful with his words, but any conversation about Atem with Mokuba or directed at Atem, when it mattered the most rational thought went out the window. Kaiba decided to settle that it was his own choices that were messing it up. As much as he hated to admit it, he’d need to take the doctor’s advice. At least, on his eating and sleeping schedules. Just enough to keep him afloat, now that he had no secretary he wanted to bang. There was no point to putting in more effort into himself than was necessary, he just needed to function enough physically to function mentally.

 

Atem brushed the tears off his face, staring numbly at the screen long after the call had ended. Kaiba definitely sounded sick. Maybe he had been deliberating about his sort-of confession all day. Maybe the feeling was mutual, and Kaiba was just being stubborn about it. He said no before he’d even finished the sentence. Possibly because Kaiba knew what he was about to ask, and if he said no before he _could_ ask, it wouldn’t actually be a “no” to the question. Or Kaiba had some ulterior motive to shame him further. He was overprotective of his brother, maybe he was going to bust him at the party for the illegal use of drugs to get rid of him. He wouldn’t put it past Kaiba.

Atem looked around the room. He’d hide his supply somewhere else and convince Kaiba to meet him at his apartment. That way, even if Kaiba did just send the police straight to the apartment, he wouldn’t get busted. His blood might say otherwise, but at least he wouldn’t _also_ get charged with possession. Best case scenario, he gets some alone time with Kaiba before the party. If his hopeless dreams came true somehow, maybe they wouldn’t even go to the party, and they’d spend the whole time in bed. Or somewhere else. Together. The party surely wasn’t Kaiba’s scene anyway. If Kaiba really did plan on going...would he wear a disguise? Surely you couldn’t hide someone as famous or tall as him without anyone seeing past the curtain. Or did he expect all stoners to be tripping too hard to notice? Sure, some of them might be high enough to think it was a weird hallucination, but not everyone.

He grabbed his phone, unable to stop wondering.

> **You:** Kaiba
> 
> **You:** Not that I don't want you to come
> 
> **You:** Because, honestly, I do
> 
> **You:** But why are you agreeing to this?

No reply.

> **You:** Meet me at my apartment
> 
> **You:** I'm sure you know the address

Atem frowned. Would Kaiba even be caught dead anywhere near that area?

> **You:** If you can't meet me there...I suppose I can meet you?
> 
> **Hinata:** Stop spamming. Yes.

Atem quickly edited the contact settings and sat back, staring at the message.

> **Kaiba:** Stop spamming. Yes.

It was hard to read the tone of the message. It could be read as cold and distant. Or simply as a statement of minor annoyance, and maybe sarcasm. It was hard to make a “yes” confirmation sound harsh. Kaiba had to be the kind of person who was very careful with words, so that couldn't be a coincidence. Besides, Atem hadn't expected conformation at all.

Back when he still lived with Yugi, Kaiba had often showed up unannounced. It wasn't uncommon for Kaiba to cancel plans either, with only the rare afterthought of explanation during their next meeting. Kaiba was a busy man, and had nothing to gain from keeping Atem in the know. Atem could only serve to gain - Kaiba was generous, even though it was always unintentional. Any inconvenience was paid more than in full, and Kaiba made it glaringly obvious he didn’t like to owe a debt. Atem chalked the lavish reparations a result of Kaiba’s accustomed taste to a large amount of wealth. Sparing what a large paycheck would be to the average man was infinitesimal to him. And he was a businessman, he wouldn't give more than he was willing to lose.

Atem stared at the message, thinking for a moment that maybe he was reading too deeply into it. But what did Kaiba have to gain from providing affirmation? He surely didn't care about Atem's feelings, evident from the way he had catfished him. Or maybe he did.

Atem sighed and moved to get dressed. He'd have to relocate his stash before he forgot. In case Kaiba was going to stand him up and send a cop to his door. He briefly thought of ways he might be able to tidy up.

There was no impressing Kaiba with a tiny studio apartment in a shit neighborhood. The guy lived in a mansion, worked in a skyscraper, and probably ate at places he'd have to sell his soul to the devil to afford.

He made sure his stash was secured in the box, making double sure the mix up the numbers in the code. It was paranoid to be this particular about this sort of security inside of his own apartment, most of the neighbors were stoners not burglars. However, if he were to leave it with anyone else, the bit of extra security was justified. He didn't exactly have any _friends_ he could leave it with, but he had a few acquaintances who would readily accept an IOU for the favor. He went a few doors down, knocking on the door he'd seen Virgil come out of earlier that day, and left it with the heavily tattooed woman living there.

He left after politely declining insistent invitations to come in for a surprisingly blunt offer of sex, and jokingly promised a kiss if she kept the box safe. She shut the door and Atem tried to reason with himself he could go through with it, and made a mental note not to make promises like that, even jokingly.

“I could get away with a cheek kiss. I never specified.” Atem mumbled to himself, slightly hugging himself more from the uncertainty than the crisp air. Dust and the metallic scent kicking up from the walkway was nauseating and distracted his mind away from that train of thought. He glanced down past the railing. He'd never been afraid of heights, and he was only standing on the second level of a building, but with all the thoughts buzzing in his head, the distance felt exceptional. He felt dizzy, and hurried back to hide himself in his apartment again.

He took the time to make his bed immaculately, knowing he'd sleep and mess it up again anyway, but wanted to know what his apartment looked like to the untrained eye. He was going to look poor regardless. He didn't have to look like a mess, however.

He carefully rearranged the seats by the table, tucked anything out of place underneath his bed, stacked up the used and blank canvases neatly, and put all the art supplies back into their places. He arranged the bathroom, internally cringing, knowing it was fruitless to attempt to make the cramped space any more welcoming.

He came back to his canvases in the main room, going back and hiding the sketch of Kaibaman within the stack of blank canvases. The prospect of Kaiba seeing _that_ was mortifying.

He sighed, glancing around the room. Despite everything having a place, the paint stained rug as well as his equally tacky blankets and pillows seemed to make the room look messy. He collapsed on his bed, his eyes rising to the wall, seeing the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon on the wall, from where he was laying he saw it upside-down.

“Should I take it down?” He muttered to himself, half expecting Yugi to respond with some advice he wouldn't have thought of himself, and felt a firm knot build in his chest.

“Nah, Kaiba will like it.” He finished for himself, and closed his eyes, remaining still until he briefly fell asleep.

The artificial light still filling the room, and slightly buzzing from its own heat, took a hour or two to wake him as the buzzing increased in intensity. His eyes opened easily, and stared at the burning bulb as a moth fluttered against it, getting close and fluttering away. Atem groaned.

The moth finally seemed to get too close, and promptly fell to the ground. Atem sat up, looking at the singed creature twitching until it stopped moving. The light's buzzing increased, flickered, and promptly burned itself out with a loud pop.

Atem blinked.

“That's wonderful,” he sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket to use as a flashlight. He used a tissue to clean up the moth, and fumbled around with a stool to get up to remove the bulb.

He decided to take out the trash, tying the bag up and heading out with it. It wasn't extremely late yet, but the sun had already gone down and the moon was sitting at a crescent in the sky. The air was icy, biting at Atem's exposed skin as he hopped down the stairs and headed around the side to toss the bag into one of the dumpsters.

He decided to head back up and grab his wallet before making the trek to the 24-hour supercenter in the shopping district of Domino to grab a new bulb. He didn't even know what time Kaiba would stop by, he supposed it would have to be late, which would probably give enough time to put this off until the morning, but he wouldn't be caught dead without a light. First impressions were going to matter if he had any hope of Kaiba not, once again, kicking him to the curb.

“Why do I care so much?” He spat bitterly, shoving his hands deeply into his pockets and kicking the dirt. Of course, he knew why, and his slumped his shoulders in solitude embarrassment when his dick twitched to remind him.

The rest of the walk was spent in relative silence. Crickets filled the air with their ceaseless chirping and within the city, a few garbage bots whirred down the empty sidewalks. Every now and then a car would pass by, and Atem was pretty sure they always went a _little_ bit faster after spotting him. Luckily, there wasn't anything to worry about walking the streets of Domino at night, unless someone was suspicious of _him,_ then he'd possibly have to have a chat with some officers to clear things up. Luckily no such thing happened.

The automatic doors made a small whirr as they opened, and the strange smell of a place that sold food as well as everything from clothes to car tires washed over him. The tiles were impeccably clean, and the employees gave him blank looks.

He awkwardly started to make his way to the back, where the home, furniture, and appliances department was located. He could feel the employees eyeing him. It always felt strange when strangers looked at him for so long. He always expected them to speak up and ask for his autograph, mistaking him for Yugi. They didn't really do that anymore. He wasn't sure how to feel about it.

He figured the employees were just looking at him because they had nothing better to do. He knew the feeling, remembering so many slow days at the game shop.

He was walking past an aisle for women's body wash and hair shampoo when he heard the faint chatter in an aisle up ahead. He grit his teeth and kept walking, but felt uneasy as he began to recognize the voice as it came closer.

“Do I just go up to the counter? God, why is this happening. We took all the right precautions, why is this still happening? Maybe I'm just stressed, and that’s why I missed it.”

Atem glimpsed around the corner into the next aisle. Tea was standing there, holding a phone up to her ear, with a small box clutched tightly in her palm, and seemed extremely distraught. Atem ducked back. What were the odds?

He couldn't help continuing to overhear.

“I'm literally the only person in the store right now. I can't just go up to the counter and buy this. The staff will all see it. I know I shouldn't care. I shouldn’t be so embarrassed, I'm not usually, I'm just...fucking...terrified, you know?”

Atem frowned. He looked back at the aisles, wondering what she was so upset about buying. They were all hygienic products. The aisle he was currently standing outside of was for menstrual pads and tampons. He had to move past it to not seem like a creep. He glanced back into the aisle Tea was standing in, and caught a glimpse of the shelves behind her.

Condoms.

Oh...shit.

“What if I just wait another week? Maybe I’m jumping the gun. Besides, I have girlfriends back in New York, they're at least brave enough to _come with me_.”

Atem turned around. He could just leave. Pretend he didn't witness anything. If she was preoccupied with something like this, that would explain why she hadn't bothered him since Yugi had told her, and also why Yugi had confessed about him so quickly. It would be difficult to hide anything from her for even a day if she was actually _in_ Domino.

His feet were cemented to the spot. He felt that familiar urge to help. Even though he didn't know how he could, or if he would only end up upsetting her more with his presence, it didn't matter. This was Tea - the fun-loving, supportive girl who had always been there for her friends through their darkest hours. She tried tirelessly to stop him from walking out, and he knew she had only failed because she had been abroad during that time.

So he walked back, stepped into the aisle, and like he had been possessed by someone much calmer than he currently felt, casually stated, “I'll walk up to the register with you.”

Tea froze in the spot, dropping the box and turned her head to face him. Her eyes were red-rimmed and glossy.

“Atem?” She said weakly and then quickly collected herself, whispering into the phone, “I-I'll call you back.”

“Hi.” Atem said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched her try to subtly shove the box back onto the shelf. He tried to appear like he didn’t notice.

She suddenly stomped toward him. He backed up, expecting her to hit him, and instead was roughly embraced in a suffocating hug that knocked the wind from his lungs.

He slowly hugged back, and felt her body shudder against him as she began to sob, and squeezed her tightly. He felt his body shaking, legs threatening to give out as her familiar perfume filled his nose. The nostalgia didn't hit quite as hard as it had when he was reunited with Yugi, but it was definitely there. He buried his face in her shoulder as she wept for a few minutes.

Eventually, she pulled herself away, messily pawing at her messy face. She gave him a few weak punches in the chest, which he took, knowing he'd more than earned it.

“I never thought I'd see you again,” she choked out, with small, pitiful laughs.

Atem didn't know what to say.

She hugged herself, avoiding his eyes, “What did you say about...walking me up to the register?”

She suddenly looked very small and afraid. It was very uncharacteristic of her. It might have been good he caught her at such a time, the confident Tea he knew would have scolded him endlessly. It didn't make him feel better, however.

He smiled awkwardly, “I sort of...overheard...some of your...conversation.”

Her lip quivered, and she briefly glanced back into the aisle, “It's nothing. I'm fine.”

“Obviously not.”

“Who are you to say that?” She suddenly looked very angry, her posture changing from small to confrontational.

That caught him a little off guard.

“Leave me alone.” She said quietly, turning away, and pulled her phone out and began pressing on it, “I've gone on fine without you,” She shot over her shoulder.

It was the kind of sentence he'd always been afraid to hear, but now hearing it, he couldn't begin to believe it was the truth.

“I need to get a light bulb,” Atem said calmly, “Then I'll walk with you to the register. You can come with me or wait here. I'll be back.”

She looked up, her face twisted, and she threw the phone at him, “Don't pretend to care!”

“I'm not pretending!”

“Prove it!”

He sighed, picking up her phone and placed it on a shelf. He walked down the aisle, grabbed what he assumed to be the box she had been holding earlier, and continued out of the aisle, heading toward the home department. He heard her footsteps catch up behind him.

“ _What are you doing?”_

“I'll pay for it.” Atem stated.

“ _No_ , you _won't._ ”

Atem stopped walking and looked at her, “Okay, then how can I prove that I care?”

She crossed her arms against her chest and looked down at her feet. Tears sat in the corner of her eyes, “I don't know, be there?”

“...When you-”

“No!” She said angrily, snatching the box from Atem.

Atem raised his hands in surrender, “I was kidding. Trying to lighten the mood. Please, stop crying.”

She rolled her eyes, “It's your fault I’m crying.”

“You're right.”

“...So? What are you going to do about it?”

Atem bit his lip, and looked toward the direction he'd been walking, and looked back at her, “I want to make it right. I don't know how. I know you know how much of a disaster Yugi's visit was, but...I really, really do want to make it right.”

Tea sighed deeply, “...You said...you needed light bulbs?”

“...Yes?”

“Go get them, dumbass. I’ll wait.”

Atem nodded, and hurried off to find the bulbs. He picked a pack of two off the shelf and hurried back.

Tea smiled weakly and shook her head, “You know...it's going to look even weirder buying…” Tea motioned to the box, “ _This_ when you're with me.”

Atem raised an eyebrow.

Tea rolled her eyes, “You've had your own body for like five years, have you still not figured out social cues?”

Atem shrugged, “A few years of modern life are nothing when the other 80% of my memories are from Egypt.”

Tea smiled sympathetically, “They're going to think that...you knocked me up.”

Atem blinked, and looked down at the box for a pregnancy test in her hand and then back at her, “O-oh. Well...that's entirely untrue.”

She shook her head, and laughed, “Well the least you can do is pretend to be a good boyfriend.” Atem winced and she gave him a strange expression, “...What?”

“Well. I think...that I'm gay. It’s a...very recent revelation.”

Her expression dropped for a moment before she burst out into a bout of delirious laughter, the tears in her eyes spilling down her cheeks. Atem rushed to comfort her but she waved him away, gradually regaining her composure.

“Atem...I don't care. I'm not asking you out. It was a _joke.”_

Atem coughed, “...Right. What do you care what the employees think anyway?”

Tea sighed, “I don't. I just. I don't know. I’m not really afraid of that. Just the reality of it, you know?”

Atem shrugged. He couldn’t find a way to completely empathize, but reasoned if she was so upset about it, a sign it was real would be a bad wake up call. They rung up their items at separate registers. The employees were completely disinterested and didn't even comment on Tea’s purchase. She walked out with her one, small item in a plastic bag. Atem simply held the box of the two replacement bulbs.

“Did you drive here?” Tea asked absently, digging for the keys in her purse.

“I walked,” Atem replied a little sheepishly.

“I can give you a ride home. And we can talk.”

Atem solemnly nodded, and followed her to her car.

She smiled nervously, approaching a small silver car, “This is uh. Actually Yugi's car. It's a bit of a mess. You know him.”

Atem nodded, watching the headlights glow and the faint click as the door unlocked. Tea quickly slipped into the driver seat and began tossing things into the back from the passenger side. A small kuriboh plush dangled from the mirror.

Atem took his seat once the space was cleared, and Tea started up the car, turning on the radio and immediately turning it almost all the way down. He quietly mentioned his address, and she simply nodded. She pulled out of the parking space, and didn't speak until they were on the road.

“I was so relieved at first,” Tea said, focusing on the road, “When Yugi let me know you were ok. I didn't think you wouldn't be, but Yugi was just so paranoid about it, it started to get to me. It was hard not to let it get to me, since you and Yugi were always so close.”

Atem looked down at his feet, “I'm truly sorry.”

“I'm not done,” Tea snapped, “I remember Yugi's birthday the year after you left. We tried so hard to make him happy, but you could tell he wasn't as into it as he was pretending to be. I remember sitting on the floor with him and Joey after everyone else had to leave. And Yugi was just crying. And we all felt it. It became so _real_ that you were gone.”

Atem looked over at her, seeing more tears falling silently down her cheeks. He watched her knuckles whiten against the steering wheel as she glared at the road.

“We were so happy when you didn't leave after the ceremonial duel, and I guess it's unfair to dismiss the possibility we would grow apart. I know you miss the ones you left behind that day. But what you did was wrong. It wasn't fair. We're your friends, Atem. I thought you thought about us that way too.”

“Of course I do-”

“You didn't let us be your _friends._ You didn't ask for help. Yugi tried his best with what you gave him. But you even shut him out. And then you ran away,” she sighed, “You made it feel like it was somehow _our fault_ that Kaiba's such a dick.” She laughed, causing her watering eyes to spill out, and she pulled over on the side of the road and took a deep, shaky breath, “I know you were upset about a lot of things. But you know you could've talked to any one of us.”

Atem nodded, wiping his arm across his face, surprised to find his face more wet than anticipated, “I'm sorry. I'm a coward. I ran away instead of confronting my problems head on.”

Tea reached over and hugged him, “Don't say that. Everything with you is so...complicated. Yugi told me a lot of the things you told him about. How you feel stuck, and don't belong here. Which makes sense, I know. Oh, don't cry, I'm gonna cry more…”

Atem couldn't help it. Even after Yugi's visit he hadn't exactly allowed himself to just cry it out. He'd distracted himself with texting ‘Hinata,’ which he now knew to be Kaiba. His problems back at the game shop were about the world feeling so small, and now it all felt massive and overwhelming.

Tea held him for a while, and it felt so strange and wonderful to be comforted like that again. He remembered curling up with Yugi, and felt achingly nostalgic for that feeling. His crying didn't last too long and Tea gradually pulled away.

She sat and smiled at him sadly while he cleaned himself up.

“I am truly...undeserving of your pity…” He sniffled.

“Oh come on. You're always deserving. It's just a matter of whether I have to talk some sense into you first. And it's not pity. I love you. I don't want things to be this way. This isn't you. You're better than this.”

Atem laughed, stuffing back down the sobs that threatened to arise. He didn't remember a point where he'd been such a crybaby. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing.

Tea’s phone began going off with a cute melody. She picked it up and looked at it, and looked at Atem, “Should really start heading back. Yugi's probably worried since I sort of hung up so abruptly.”

“You should answer.”

She looked very hesitant, and the ringtone came to a stop while she was deliberating. She seemed to send a quick text and shoved it back into her pocket, then started up the car again, “It's fine. I told him not to wait up.”

“If you say so.”

The car was silent for a while, with the radio playing quietly. It wasn't entirely uncomfortable. Just a little tense on Tea’s part.

Atem felt his phone buzz, and figured it would be fine to check.

> **Kaiba:** 10pm

Atem was confused for a moment, and then realized it must be a confirmation for the time. He quickly typed out a reply asking for 9, since, if they did actually end up going to the party, 10 would be a really late time to arrive, and anyone _not_ remotely high would not have any semblance of a good time.

> **Kaiba:** 9:30
> 
> **You:** Work?
> 
> **Kaiba:** What the fuck do you think?

Atem couldn't help but laugh.

“Who you talking to?” Tea asked nonchalantly.

He didn't know how to respond. Telling her it was Kaiba would take some explaining. So he went with the closest thing to the truth.

“The guy I like.”

She smiled, “Is he nice?”

Atem snorted and she shot him a concerned look. He realized his mistake. Ideally, you wouldn't laugh at the prospect of your crush being considered “nice.” On the other hand, he wouldn't put it past Tea to severely judge his infatuation with Seto Kaiba, considering his track record.

He smiled nervously, trying to stick as close to the truth as possible by being slightly vague, “Well he comes off as rough. But he means well.” _Sometimes._

Tea sighed, “Just don't get yourself hurt.”

“Who are you with?” Atem asked, hoping the question wouldn't be considered prying. She was taking a pregnancy test, so obviously she had gotten with _someone._

The car was silent for a while, and her eyes were glued to the road.

“Someone who needs to grow up.” She said, and reached over to turn the radio up until the base levels slightly shook the small car.

She turned off the radio as she pulled up in front of his apartment building, and sat there for a moment.

“I'm sorry,” She said quietly.

“No, I'm sorry.”

She chuckled, “But I am sorry. At least for throwing my phone at you in the store. That was really uncalled for,” she sighed and smiled weakly, “I'm going through so much right now. It's so _stupid_ and now you're back and...just...gahh. I'm not even supposed to be here, I just wanted to come back for cherry blossom season.”

“Did Yugi give you my number?”

“Yeah…” She muttered, “I was gonna call and scream at you but I knew it was probably a bad idea while I'm stressed out. It's not fair on you.”

“I mean, I deserve it.”

“Yeah, but you deserve it when it's honest, not when I'm just misdirecting my feelings at you.” She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close, planting a kiss on his cheek, “I love you, I always will even when you act like a dumbass. Thank you for tonight, I needed somebody. You were there. Don't stop now.”

Atem nodded, “Honestly I'm just terrified to see the rest again.”

“Don't be. We love you, always will. I promise Joey's more likely to cry than to punch you. He honestly just misses you; you know he can't hold a grudge. Tristan’s the one you gotta watch out for.”

They both fondly laughed.

“I'm leaving next week. And I have my own stuff to deal with, so don't expect me to be your crutch on this. I'd feed you to the wolves anyway. You have to want to make things right again.”

Atem nodded, “It was nice seeing you again.”

“Now get out so I can listen to sad music and cry some more by myself.” She said, shoving him by the shoulder toward the door.

He struggled with the handle and stumbled out, waving as the car pulled away until it disappeared behind the trees. He wandered back to his apartment, and fumbled in the dark with his phone as a flashlight to replace the bulb. He put the other spare on top of the cupboard and collapsed face-first into his bed.

A strange sense of contentment filled him. A feeling of relief. The tight grip of anxiety that had been wrapped around him for years loosened slightly. She had said everything he needed so desperately to hear.

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Whew. Glad I finally got this chapter out. Much angst, very friendship. Please keep letting me know what you think!

Now I can work on the next chapter, which I am very, _very_ excited about! There's a party, and all my readers are invited.

 **Next Update:** July 20th

~James


	11. Fish Out of Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a sort of dub-con scene, just a warning ;)

Mokuba’s happiness was irritating. Usually Kaiba felt some sense of accomplishment whenever Mokuba’s mood was genuinely lifted. But this time, there was a smugness to his grin that set Kaiba on edge.

Kaiba had given Mokuba the win when he could have easily walked away. He knew why he had done so, it was important to mend their relationship, it was a compromise. In the long run, ideally, it would benefit them both. He made compromises that wouldn’t initially benefit Kaiba Corporation in the same way, however, Kaiba still found himself wanting to regret it.

Mokuba was noisily eating pocky, almost certainly only pretending to read his math textbook, and every so often would glance at him from across the table. He ignored it, focusing on the documents pulled up on the screen of his laptop.

“You're typing real loud Seto.” Mokuba remarked with pocky sticking out the corner of his mouth.

Kaiba looked up, swiftly reached over and pressed the end into his mouth.

Mokuba swatted his hand away and coughed, “Ow!”

“Don't talk with your mouth full,” He remarked without looking up from the computer screen.

“It wasn't _full._ Come on, I know you're all butthurt about losing-”

Kaiba frowned, pressing even harder on the keys, “I didn't _lose,_ I _compromised.”_

“Whatever makes you feel better-”

“I'm simply stating a fact.”

“...Ok. You're right...you're doing this for me.” Mokuba replied slowly, “But hopefully you'll have a good time, right?”

“I highly doubt it…” Kaiba mumbled, and took note of the irony of that line.

He wished Mokuba would take a hint to stop pestering him - he was a master at multitasking, but it was easier to work when he didn't have to hold conversation. It was bad enough Mokuba had talked him into working from home since there was no one he needed to see today. Yesterday's meetings had been moved to Monday, besides they had only been about the release of an upgraded children’s duel disk and stuffed duel monsters. The income from these products was sure to be substantial, but the few days of delay wasn’t going to affect sales.

“So when are you are you gonna meet up with him?”

“9:30.”

“That's...late.”

Kaiba pulled his hands from the keyboard and rubbed his temples, _“Can I work?”_

“...You can't go any earlier than that?”

 _“Why would I?”_ Kaiba was at his wits end. There was only so much he would do for his brother, and Mokuba was _really_ pushing it.

“I mean, you need time to sleep before work tomorrow.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes, “Yeah. _Right.”_

“I'm serious.”

“I'm not planning on staying very long. It doesn't matter.” Kaiba resumed typing, articulating each press of the keys to send the hint to leave to Mokuba once again.

Mokuba crossed his arms, “Leave at 9.”

“Oh, are you the adult now?”

“Dude. 30 minutes isn't going to kill you.”

“It took me 30 minutes to code the second iteration of the duel disk.”

“Well you still have six hours to code twelve of them.” Mokuba stated, then picked up his stuff and headed upstairs.

“Five and a three quarters.” Kaiba muttered under his breath, but found himself smiling.

Sometimes Mokuba reminded him of the parts of his personality he hated - the stubbornness, the manipulative qualities. He disliked how much Mokuba's rebellious nature had grown and turned against him over the past few years. But sometimes he could appreciate the sarcasm, and how much of a smartass the kid had become. Someday it was going to give Kaiba Corporation's competitors a run for their money. If they couldn't undermine Kaiba, they could never hope to trick Mokuba.

He let out a thin stream of air between his teeth as he heard Mokuba noisly clamber back down the stairs only moments later.

“Last thing.” Mokuba said, leaning on the back on the chair next to Kaiba.

“What?’

“I’m helping Isono put together a disguise. I know you probably don’t want anyone to know it’s you.”

“I can do it myself.” Kaiba hissed, pressing keys so hard he’d probably need a new keyboard if Mokuba didn’t leave him alone soon.

“Come on, if you pick out your own disguise, it’s either going to look too similar to what you already wear, or it’s gonna be something absolutely no one would wear.” Mokuba paused, then grinned teasingly, “But both options are basically the same thing.”

“Whatever.” Kaiba mumbled, and shot his eyes over at Mokuba with a threatening glare.

Mokuba raised his hands up and made his way back up the stairs.

Kaiba stopped typing, and laid his hands out on the keyboard. He let out a deep sigh.

He would stay long enough to say he went, then sit in his car for a few hours before coming back. Whatever he had to do to keep Mokuba off his back, and then he’d make sure Mokuba never held that kind of power over him again.

It was just Atem, he had grown pretty weak and harmless over the years, Kaiba could walk all over him. What could possibly go wrong?

 

Atem threw his head back, letting the water run over his eyes. He steadied himself against the wall with one outstretched hand, the other wrapped around his shaft. His voice carried through the enclosed space with lewd pants and the occasional grunt and groan as he imagined Kaiba’s body against his. The steam coming off the water just held enough weight and mass to allow Atem imagine it if he kept his eyes closed.

He stroked himself furiously, falling back against the wall and bit down on his free hand. He imagined Kaiba lifting him, pressing him against the wall. His legs hanging useless over Kaiba’s forearms as Kaiba lowered him onto his dick and fucked him.

Atem felt himself edging, stroking himself firmly to completion with the image of Kaiba’s wet bangs and intense glare in his mind’s eye. His semen shot out in three thick currents, the last landing on the top of his foot.

He ducked back under the water, rinsing it off and the water began to turn unpleasantly cold. He forced himself to remain under long enough to scrub the paint off his arms. The cold water would be good if he was going to survive the night, and he hoped the rather intense session he just had would prevent him from getting aroused when Kaiba actually _would_ be in his apartment.

He turned off the water, and noticed how badly his legs were shaking. He’d hardly slept the night before. The initial relief of his conversation with Tea lasted long enough to give him a few hours, but Reo called early to request he take some hours since a section of the mural didn’t seem to have been set correctly and the top coat was begging to crack. Atem had hesitantly agreed, got to work with Syo and Keiko to sand it back down and repaint it. They also got more of the mural done before the work was over. Atem went home bitterly realizing the fact that at most it would only take another week to finish the piece. Everyone else was delighted, and Atem would have been as well - if that didn’t mean Kaiba’s regular visits would no longer be a thing.

He strung out his hair a bit then toweled off. He felt a bit ashamed of his own thoughts and behavior. He was acting like a desperate, horny fanboy. Fantasizing about Kaiba fucking him in the shower, and longing for more chances to see him even if the feelings might not be returned even in the smallest degree. He still hoped there was a chance.

“Even if there was, would Kaiba admit it?” Atem wondered out loud, pulling on a pair of boxers.

He set about cooking dinner, pulling out a box of frozen patties and put one into a pan on the stove.

_It’s time to d-d-d-d-_

Atem quickly picked up the phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID, “Hello?”

 _“Are you busy today?”_ Yugi spoke on the other end. His tone sounded rushed.

“Well...hi, Yugi, this is unexpected.”

_“Yeah, hi, Atem, I'm a little desperate here, obviously, so are you busy?”_

Atem felt a little hurt by the ‘obviously' remark. What made it obvious? Yugi’s tone, or that fact he was calling _Atem?_

“Not at the moment, but I have plans for tonight. What's up?”

_“Can I just...come over? For a while? I need...to talk to someone.”_

“I guess? Why are you coming to me and not...I don't know, Joey? Tristan? Tea? Not saying you can't come to me, I just would think after-”

_“I can’t talk to them. Don't ask, I'll end up telling you anyway, just, I'll be heading out soon. Thanks.”_

The call dropped and Atem sighed, placing the phone on the counter. If it was something Yugi, for some reason, couldn't talk to Joey, Tristan or Tea about, then he supposed it was lucky they had recently reconnected...somewhat. It also must have been too personal to consider talking to Ryou. Duke and Mai were a gossip queens, so they were usually not a secondary option. Not that they couldn’t keep secrets, but usually if there was drama someone couldn’t tell the others, they had a hard time not giving any _hints._ Atem mulled over what it might be that Yugi wouldn't be able to talk to anyone _closer_ , even though he supposed they had been the closest before…

Loud, quick knocks almost made Atem drop the pan as he moved it off the stove. Yugi must have already been out if he had arrived so quickly.

Atem put the pan on the counter and turned off the burner. He quickly dug around for a pair of sweatpants before answering the door.

“I didn't expect you so-”

Yugi walked right past him and collapsed on his bed.

Atem awkwardly closed the door, as he cautiously watched Yugi slowly crumple up into something resembling the fetal position.

“Should I put on a shirt?” Atem asked jokingly, trying to lighten the mood a bit, wondering what was so upsetting. It was weird that Yugi felt comfortable enough to barge in and collapse on his bed. It was something Atem used to do to Yugi when they lived together, but not really the other way around, and it was an understatement to say it had _been a while._

Yugi sat up and looked at him, looking him over. Yugi looked like a mess - not really that he had been upset, but pretty stressed out and his hair was a bit all over the place. Atem noticed his eyes glue to his abdomen and involuntarily blushed.

“Wh...what?” He asked, suddenly feeling like he was missing more than just a shirt.

“You...have a Blue Eyes on your stomach.” Yugi replied, in a tone Atem couldn't register.

Atem looked down at himself, the tattoo of a Blue Eyes craning its neck across his ribcage, spitting blue fire. He impulsively crossed his arms over it, “Yeah, I do.”

Yugi sighed and flopped back onto the bed, “You sure you don't main a Blue Eyes deck? Were you friends with Kisara or something?”

Atem shook his head, despite the fact Yugi wasn't looking, “I never got the chance to properly meet her. I was much closer with Mahaad,” he paused, “I just thought a blue eyes would, um, look cool. They're very popular, and many artists make beautiful renditions.” It was a half-lie. He did choose the design from a popular tattoo artists who designed very painterly tattoos, but that wasn't his reason for getting it.

Yugi just laid there, so Atem resumed dinner, and Yugi eventually sat back up and watched him.

“Hungry?” Atem asked over his shoulder.

“Have you gotten any better at cooking?” Yugi chided, but it was rather emotionless.

Atem smiled anyway, “I suppose that's a ‘no,’ you're ‘not hungry.’”

Yugi chuckled and moved to sit at the table, “Doesn't look like you burned it.”

Atem plated the patty between two slices of bread. Yugi stuck his tongue out in mock-disgust.

“A _plain_ burger?”

Atem smirked, “Veggie burger. And yeah, I'm...saving money, let's say.”

“Struggling to pay rent?”

Atem shook his head, “Utilities. Water is expensive, I've learned.” He then bit his cheek. Just before Yugi's visit he had run his water cold masturbating.

Yugi slowly nodded and kept his eyes down at the table, “Yeah. Joey's moving in soon. Practically lives there already, and it would help both of us to split the bills.”

“What about his sister? Wasn't she living with him?”

Yugi shrugged, “She'll go back with their mom until she's an adult. Their mom’s already getting on his back about covering half the apartment plus her own house, so it would be better until Serenity can get her own job. I mean there's another spare bedroom, she can live with _both_ of us after that if she really wants to and we can cut the bill three ways.”

“I'm sure Joey will miss her.”

Yugi waved his hand, as if to wave away the subject, “Their mom lives closer now. Anyway, that's not why I came here.”

“Of course,” Atem replied and took a bite of the burger.

Yugi hesitated, and Atem once again wondered what Yugi could possibly decide to come to _him_ about. Besides, last time they had seen each other, Yugi had walked out. Not without reason, but that seemed very outside the criteria for someone you would want to see again for advice or comfort.

“Um. Well. How have you been...since...you know.”

“Since our last meeting?” Atem asked, and rolled his tongue in his mouth, “Uh. Alright, I suppose. I feel...bad, of course. Sort of terrible, if I'm honest…I’m really sorry about how that went.”

Yugi was looking very nervous and expectant. He didn't seem to care about what Atem was actually saying. Atem dug around his memory for what had happened recently. Kaiba seemingly accepted his invitation to a party, which would be a strange thing to bring up, or explain, and he didn't see how it could relate to Yugi. Other than that, he _did_ see Tea the night before.

“I saw Tea last night, funny enough I bumped into her at the supermarket...at like...midnight, which was...odd.” He said slowly, recalling all the events that had taken place. Did Yugi know about the pregnancy test? Tea hadn't warned him against saying anything to anyone, but it might have gone without saying. But she and Yugi were pretty close, it would be surprising had she kept it from him.

Yugi fidgeted, “Yeah she uh...told me about that. Did she...tell you anything?”

“Um. I really don't know if I'm supposed to talk about it?” Atem said. If Yugi didn't know, then at least he could direct him to ask Tea directly so at least he wouldn't hear secondhand.

But Yugi sighed, and looked very interested in the empty chair slightly across from him.

“Well. I...uh, well, _know_ about it, so you can.”

“About what?”

“Sorry, I know I'm being really cryptic right now,” Yugi gripped his head, “She's not, just so you know. It's probably just stress like she said, but she still wants to take the other test in a week to be sure.”

Atem blinked, and then squinted. Yugi purposely avoided his eyes. Atem couldn't help the uncertain smile slowly creeping onto his face, “Wait, I get it. Did you-”

Yugi shot out his hand and covered Atem's mouth, and Atem pushed it away.

“Why are you acting like this? I know you've liked her forever. I'm happy for you. Is this new?”

Yugi slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes, “What do you mean you've known I liked her?”

“Well you asked her out and chickened out last minute and left me to spend the date with her. Turns out I wasn't interested because I'm gay.”

Yugi's eyes widened, “Wait wait, you're gay?”

“Oh. Right. That's. A new thing…” Atem cringed, “Well, we weren't talking about that, we were talking about you.”

Yugi groaned, and laid his head on the table.

“I mean...it makes sense.”

Atem stopped just before a bite of his barely-touched burger, “What does?”

“You...being gay.”

Atem chewed and quickly swallowed, “...Really?”

Yugi nodded, and then looked suspiciously over at him.

Atem sighed, “Don't make it weird. Anyway, we were talking about Tea.”

“Did you ever think about-”

“Don't make me answer that, please.”

“O-oh.”

“I'm not...ah, I'm not really, um, pining after you. Currently. At all. It's a non-issue. I'm...interested in someone else. Anyway- back to Tea.” Atem took a big bite to steer Yugi away from the current conversation. Admitting he’d ever been interested in Yugi in that way was a strange experience. It had only really ever been a passing thought anyway. That came back around every so often.

Yugi sighed, and propped his head on one hand, “I don't mind. I can't say I haven't thought about it.”

Atem couldn't help the heat that rushed to his face, but shot Yugi a look. Yugi was obviously dodging the subject at hand.

Yugi started fiddling with his hands, “I don't actually know if me and Tea are...together? I guess…”

“But you-”

“Well, yeah, um, but...she lives in New York. And I couldn't possibly...follow her or anything. At least not right now.”

“I'm...not sure how to help.” Atem frowned, “Now that I think about it, she didn't actually mention you at all last night, besides you worrying about her return.”

“She was...mad at me.”

“Why?”

“I didn't go with her to the store for the…you know.”

Atem cringed, “Well um. This isn't going to make you feel any better. But when I asked who she was with, she told me it was...someone ‘ who needed to grow up.’ So.”

Yugi groaned, “I don't know what I'm doing! I've never been with anyone before. And this is...it was just so sudden, I don't know.”

Atem shrugged, feeling like it wasn't his place to chime in.

“She was freaking out and asked if I would go with her in the morning, and I hesitated, so she just took my keys and left. I would've gone with her otherwise, but she’s still sort of not talking to me.”

“...Maybe she wasn't talking about you coming with her to get the pregnancy test.”

Yugi nodded slowly.

Atem wracked his brain, trying to remember their conversation. There was something applicable there, and if the advice had come from Tea it would surely work to help Yugi make up with her.

“She mostly lectured me about being there for...well, you, and everyone else. And communicating. Letting other people help. I think that part's...less helpful to you, but the...being there for her...and talking to her...is probably...a good thing to do?”

“You know, you've somehow gotten a lot _more_ awkward since you've been gone. But...thanks.”

“Uh, yeah.” Atem said, and poked the bread of the pitiful burger, “I'm sort of surprised, knowing it's you.”

“Why? You just said-”

“Yeah but. I don't know. She was really...distressed. I’ve never _actually_ thought about it, but if I had before, I don't think I'd imagine her just being so...scared about something like this with you.”

“Well, I mean, she has a career and everything in America, so…”

Atem rolled his eyes, “I don't know the first thing about relationships, but I know when Tea cares about something, she's invested. And I mean. You’re dating...or something...you at least hooked up once, obviously. I don't think that sort of thing means nothing to her.”

Yugi turned cherry red, “Yeah, you're probably right.”

“When do people in this time start getting married anyway?”

“M-married?”

“Take a deep breath and calm down, Yugi. I'm just asking. It would make sense if she's freaking out, since kids usually happen after marriage and you don't even know if you're dating. Am I correct about the kids and marriage thing? I guess I’ve seen some media about teenage pregnancy, but that's considered a bad thing, right?”

Yugi sighed, “Some people get married when they're about 20, some as late as like 40 or 50, I guess.”

Atem blinked, “Sometimes I forget how long people live these days.”

Yugi half-laughed, “Yeah. And teenage pregnancy is usually considered a bad thing. Since, you know, we live longer and don't need to rush...having kids. Or marriage. People usually do have kids when they're married. But not always.”

Atem nodded, “Confusing.” He looked at the half-eaten burger on his plate, “I need some fucking ketchup.”

Yugi laughed. Atem smiled, and got up. He shoved the plate in the fridge. It was already cold anyway.

He turned to Yugi, “Do you...want to stay a while?”

“I'm not...doing anything else today. I can stay.”

“Do you want to?” Atem raised an eyebrow.

Yugi smiled a little, “I'd like to have a do-over of our last visit. I think I was a little harsh on you. It just...felt overwhelming to see you again. I mean, I had so many conflicting emotions.”

Atem nodded, “Understandable. Well I'm not doing anything until approximately 9:30. But I suggest you leave a little before then so I can get ready.”

“Oh?”

“I'm uh. Seeing a guy.”

 _“Oh.”_ Yugi said and then awkwardly laughed, “The guy you said you were interested in? Who isn’t me?”

Atem stiffly nodded, and quickly added, “I'm not...interested in you. Just to make that clear. Not to say you're not attractive, and you're sort of with Tea right now, and-”

“Dude. I get it.” Yugi laughed, and flopped down on Atem's bed, patting beside him, “Still comfortable around you. Plus you're too awkward to hit on me or anything even if you were.”

Atem crookedly smiled, “Oh really?”

Yugi threw a pillow at him, “Who was the one who told me not to make it weird?”

Atem laughed. A simply joyful laugh.

Yugi laughed too, “Come lay down or I'll change my mind about laying next to you if you're gonna make it weird. But also put on a shirt first. That’s my one condition.”

Atem smirked, “Do you really hate my Blue Eyes tattoo?”

“I hate the fact that its lower half disappears into your pants, yes.” Yugi teased.

Atem felt his cheeks heat up, “It just goes down my outer thigh,” Atem then smirked, trying to regain his confidence and teasingly tugged the edge of his sweatpants down slightly, “I can prove it-”

Yugi scrunched his eyes closed and put his hands out in front of his face, “No no, I'll take your word for it.”

Atem chuckled and pulled out a v-neck t-shirt to wear. He hated sleeves but the less skin that was exposed, the better probably. Yugi was playing it cool, but even Atem wasn't sure what his reaction to laying next to Yugi would be with his preferences realized.

Atem grabbed his tablet and huddled up next to his counterpart. Yugi enthused about his game, using the tablet to show him everything he had put online, even logging into his private database to show him some things that weren't going to be shown to the public until the full release. They then moved to watching videos on Joey's channel, which Atem hadn’t known existed, and Yugi elaborated on some of the events.

There were a few duels with Yugi, some vlogs with Joey telling funny stories about real events - which Yugi explained were majorly exaggerated half the time. A lot of videos with Tristan, visiting the shelter that Tristan volunteered at and gushing at rescue dogs and cats. A few videos of Joey playing an acoustic guitar, always awkwardly introducing himself and the title of the cover song, and sometimes explaining it was chords he wrote. Sometimes he sort of mumbled lyrics. Any other videos were general hang out videos, usually including his sister, or Tea when she came to visit.

The time flew by watching these videos. Atem found himself laughing and crying throughout. Some videos were more serious - Tristan got into a motorbike accident a year back and was in the hospital for a week, Joey's dad passed from a heart attack - which was a very emotionally intense video, but Serenity was sitting next to him the whole time and delivered a sweet message at the end about family. He did a lot of the videos whilst sick, which was honestly disgusting with the way Joey always got congested when he was sick, and Yugi even opted to skip a few when they weren't particularly important. All the while, Yugi huddled closer and closer to Atem. Eventually Atem had his arm over Yugi's shoulders, with Yugi's head resting on his chest, careful to keep his hair from blocking the screen.

Suddenly three firm knocks sounded from the door.

Atem glanced at the time.

8:50pm.

It was early for Kaiba to arrive. Unless he had tipped off the cops. He supposed there might be another knock before a warning from a police officer. He felt panic set in and looked at Yugi. He’d snuck out of back windows at parties more times then he’d like to admit.

“Is the guy here? He's a bit earlier than you said he’d be.”

“Um. Maybe.” Atem replied, trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice.

Even if it was just Kaiba at the door, it would be embarrassing for Yugi to see him, seeing as he had told Yugi it was ‘a guy he liked’ who was coming. Otherwise, it was the police, and he really didn't want to drag Yugi into it.

“...Are you gonna answer the door? Or are you choking up?”

Three more firm knocks.

Atem jumped up and looked through the peephole. It was Kaiba.

He quickly opened the door, slipped through the crack, and closed it behind him to keep Yugi inside.

“Not even gonna comment on your outfit, you're real fucking early, and Yugi is inside so I advise you probably hide somewhere while I get him to leave. If you don't want to be seen here.”

“You really planned this out, didn't you?” Kaiba shot back sarcastically.

“You told me 9:30.” Atem felt himself begin to sweat, realizing the way he was speaking to Kaiba.

“I'll leave then.”

“No- just. Give me a minute.”

“60. 59.” Kaiba began to count mockingly, turning to head back down.

Atem quickly went back inside.

“What was that?” Yugi asked, sitting up in the bed with a concerned look on his face.

“I didn't want him to see you.” Atem said quickly and then shook his head, “That came out wrong-”

“No, I mean I get it. I'm still sort of a celebrity I guess. Don't wanna steal your spotlight.” He winked.

Atem breathed a shallow breath of relief and smiled, “Yes, that's exactly what I meant to insinuate. Anyway. I'll see you down. Oh, before I forget again.” He hurried over to the stack of canvases and pulled out the Silent Magician.

“Oh, right, you were going to give me one last time before I left…”

“Yeah…” Atem said awkwardly, handing off the canvas.

He walked down with Yugi and waved him off as the car pulled away. He turned around and almost fell over.

“You reached zero 37 seconds ago, Muran. Your new name really doesn’t have the same effect.”

“Jesus fuck Kaiba.” Atem sighe, “You can keep calling me Mutou if you want, I suppose. Just don’t go back to calling me Yugi. Yugi just left.”

“Are you ready?” Kaiba eyed him.

“No, because you're _early._ ” Atem really didn't know where this bravery was coming from. There was something about Kaiba's tenseness and odd getup that made him feel strangely confrontational.

“It's a degenerate party, not a wine tasting. I’m sure you could wear a garbage bag and they’d cheer.” Kaiba shot back.

“Well who dressed _you?_ You still look like yourself, just worse. Did Mokuba pick that out?”

Kaiba was wearing a black turtleneck, a puffy grey vest, black thick-rimmed glasses, dark jeans, and white high tops. His hair was tousled slightly, but he had obviously impulsively tried to fix it by flattening the bangs against his forehead. His eyes were also brown, which meant he had even put in contacts. Which was probably the only good idea of the entire getup.

“Do you have a better idea to disguise the CEO of one of the biggest tech companies across the globe?” Kaiba replied defensively.

It was hard to take him seriously in that outfit. Maybe that was what gave Atem such a boost. Kaiba was out of his element. The brown contacts also made him look much less threatening than his eyes’ natural piercing blue hue.

Atem smiled and nodded, motioning Kaiba to follow.

“Oh, you're going to give me a makeover?”

“I suppose I'm supposed to be good at it.” Atem shot back. He knew he was going to be the butt of many belittling gay jokes from Kaiba, so he figured he'd embrace it. Hopefully the jokes would only be made out of spite, and not genuine distaste. He heard Kaiba follow without a word.

Inside, he dug through his dresser, trying his best to ignore the distasteful looks Kaiba threw at each corner of the room.

“So. You live in this dump? Can’t afford anything even slightly better?”

Atem bit the inside of his cheek painfully, “Artist's salary. I'm not a _CEO.”_

“Sure, but my _interns_ live better than you.”

“If I wanted to grab coffee all day for sleep deprived nerds I would.” Atem shot back. He felt he was overstepping a bit by making fun of Kaiba's employees - but Kaiba actually laughed.

“You just don't know how to run a business. Hiding your face from the public is surely on the list of issues, but I'm almost positive you're underpricing, and you let the asshat running Game Begin walk all over you in terms of salary. You’ve obviously lost your backbone.”

Atem paused, clutching a hat that had been buried in the bottom of the drawer. Kaiba's tone was taunting, but his phrasing didn't completely align. It seemed more like he was trying to point out injustices, problems to fix, rather than actually making fun of Atem for being duped.

Atem decided not to respond and grabbed a few more things from the drawer and handed them to Kaiba.

“Why do you have a hat? Can you even wear one?” Kaiba asked, looking disdainfully at the articles in his hands.

“My hair works like normal hair, Kaiba.”

“Are you sure these will…” He hesitated, then seemed to change his mind on what he was going to say, “...fit?”

“Not sure. I've read articles comparing your height to the size of your ego. But I think your height would be more excessive than it already is if that were true.”

Kaiba smirked, “Maybe you're just short.”

Atem dug through the mess he'd made of the drawer and pulled out the outfit he'd chosen and put it over his arm and put everything else back.

“I'll...change in the bathroom.”

“Right…” Kaiba replied slowly.

Atem could tell he didn't want to be here. He was _completely_ out of his element. Atem had seen his house. He'd seen every private duel arena Kaiba had access to. He'd been up and down the Kaiba Corp tower more times than he could count. Kaiba wore the same kinds of outfits since day one of their interactions. Suits or dramatic coats - rarely anything in between or outside of those themes.

He was going to need to start resisting his urge to be a smartass if he didn't want Kaiba to up and abandon him.

Atem slipped inside the bathroom and quickly changed. He lined his eyes using his phone as a mirror and adjusted his hair, stepping out and doing a double-take at Kaiba.

He'd slipped off the puffy vest and replaced it with the sleeveless leather jacket, which had a few duel monsters related pins pinned to it. He’d rolled up the sleeves of his turtleneck so his forearms were exposed, and was wearing one of the rings Atem had given him - on his left pinky. Atem could safely assume it was the only one that fit, on the only finger it fit on. Atem knew he had small feminine hands, especially in comparison to Kaiba. The only pieces of the outfit that were out of place were the silver chain that hung around his neck, and the hat sitting awkwardly sort of on top of his head, rather than on it. Besides that, Kaiba didn't look nearly as terrible.

Atem approached him, “Can I...fix some things?”

Kaiba rolled his eyes, “Ok, fashion expert. How do I look _more_ like a delinquent.”

Atem rolled his eyes right back, “Attach the chain to your belt loops and wear the hat backwards.”

“What?”

“You're trying to get no one to recognize you, right? Well right now you look like you're cosplaying a gangster.”

Kaiba frowned, but obliged. Atem awkwardly helped him attach the chain to his pants, and advised him to tuck his hair into the hat to show off his forehead. He also found the glasses discarded on the table and put them back on Kaiba. It made him look more like a hipster, rather than just a dude with a slightly odd fashion sense.

“Is this enough unlike myself for you not to get hard looking at me?” Kaiba sneered once the look was complete.

Atem felt genuinely insulted, “Why are you even here? Why are you letting me dress you like this and take you to a shitty party you're just going to spit down on?”

Kaiba's mouth flattened into a thin line, and he replied emotionlessly, “I'm making it up to you.”

“...for what?”

“You know what.”

“...cutting me out of your life for like, three years?”

“No, I'm not sorry about that at all. If you were an honest duelist that wouldn't have happened.” Kaiba replied coldly.

Atem shook his head, “Not gonna argue this time because, yet again, _you're not going to listen._ But if not that, then what?”

“...Catfishing.”

“...oh.”

“Is this enough? Can I get out of this trash and leave? You had your little dress up party.”

Atem felt his heart dip. He'd allowed himself the smallest bit of hope. He knew it was a foolish dream to think Kaiba could ever feel remotely the same. Even just superficially.

He felt a deep seed of resentment inside of himself. Things were finally turning up for the better after being shitty for so long. He was finally finding the courage to right his wrongs, but of course Kaiba hadn’t changed at all. Although, the fact Kaiba felt he needed to make up for anything at all was...new. If it was a material debt, Kaiba would pay back in full, but emotional matters never seemed to mean anything to him before. Maybe Kaiba was finally growing a conscience.

Well, for once it would be Atem taking the advantage.

“No. You're coming to the party.” Atem stated, “Then I'll forgive you.”

“Why is everyone insufferable lately.” Kaiba mumbled.

“Maybe you should look at yourself.” Atem replied over his shoulder as he grabbed the door and held it open, “After you...what's your pseudonym? Surely I can't call you Kaiba.” Atem smirked, “Should I call you Hinata?”

“Call me any one of your silly little Egyptian friends. Maybe _Set.”_ Kaiba sneered as he walked past.

“As you wish, high priest.”

“Fuck off.”

Atem smirked, “If you don’t like it, then I'm not sure how Mahaad would feel about you using his name.”

“Just shut up, I'm already tired of hearing you talk.”

“Set it is. No high priest stuff.” Atem replied and rushed ahead of Kaiba, struggling to stay ahead with the height difference and length of their legs. He briefly explained the party was about a fifteen minute walk and admitted that, yes, there will be a fair amount of drugs. Kaiba said nothing in response. He kept a blank expression the entire trip.

Music could already be heard outside the house. It belonged to a bunch of roommates who regularly threw parties. Atem knew two things about these people: There were more of them than there were bedrooms in the house, even putting three to a room, and for some reason all of them always disappeared by the end of the party and wouldn’t be seen until the next. The parties themselves were always relatively lowkey, apart from the loud music.

He could feel Kaiba tense as they approached the building, even though they were standing at least three steps apart.

“Chill out. No one’s going to harrass you inside...probably. You can drink, they usually have alcohol. You don’t have to do anything, just...uh, try to have fun and you probably will.”

Kaiba reached into his back pocket, pulled out a silver flask, uncapped it and began to chug it.

“...Oh.”

Kaiba threw the flask into the grass and wiped his arm across his mouth, “Well that’s how I feel about this.”

He began walking toward the door, and Atem hurried to catch up, following him inside. The hazy room was tinted red from a colored light bulb screwed into the fixture on the ceiling. A small spinning light sat on a wooden end table in the corner of the room, and people were sort of scattered about. The kitchen was in the very back of the floor, several couches of various quality were placed haphazardly on the carpet. There was an archway to another room, which Atem knew was always reserved as a much quieter space. The two bathrooms were upstairs.

Atem explained all this to Kaiba, shouting over the music.

“I think someone noticed you.” Kaiba said flatly before Atem was done.

Atem looked over and Virgil was waving from a couch, sitting by himself with a bong tucked between his legs. Kaiba shoved him towards that direction and headed off to the back, ignoring everyone who tried to say hi to him. Atem sighed, and headed over to Virgil.

Virgil blew a thick cloud of smoke at him.

“You’re later than usual. Who’s your friend?”

Atem stopped himself before he said Kaiba, “Set. His name’s Set.”

“Sit down. You look stressed.”

Atem looked over, seeing that Kaiba had disappeared. He frowned, thinking Kaiba had already left. It wasn’t a surprise, however. He was sure the smell and the people who were making out on a few of the couches was surely a reason Kaiba would want to leave as soon as possible. He also knew the back door was through the archway, and Kaiba could have easily slipped out through there.

Atem sighed, “Fuck it.”

 

Kaiba had heard “quieter space” and immediately headed there. Mokuba had shoved him out of the door around eight, so he’d waited in the car for half an hour, and was already buzzed when he met Atem at the door. He was thankful Atem was tactful enough to prevent Yugi from seeing him. He briefly wondered if the two had made up, since they were walking very close together to Yugi’s car, and Yugi was holding one of Atem’s paintings. A gift, probably.

He knew he was going to regret chugging the flask, as well as throwing it into the grass, but he didn’t want to pass by Atem and out the front door, he’d probably assume he was leaving. He couldn’t - he was too tipsy to make it all the way back on his own. Besides, the neighborhood made him feel oddly anxious without his bodyguards or a recognizable outfit. No one in their right mind would try to tussel Seto Kaiba, but Set McNobody, probably, yeah.

The quieter space had three people in it. One was sleeping on a small loveseat, covered by a leather trench coat that hid all but the person’s sneakers. The other two were sitting at a fold-out table, chatting. Both were blonde, a guy wearing sunglasses inside in the mostly-dark, and a girl in a white fur coat.

Kaiba hovered by the doorway, keeping his gaze away from the two conscious dwellers, hoping they’d take the hint to pretend not to notice him.

“Hey, glasses.”

Kaiba’s eye twitched as _Sun_ glasses acknowledged him.

“Take a seat.”

“I promise we don’t bite.” Fur Coat teased.

Kaiba sighed, “Fuck it,” he mumbled under his breath, and sat down at the chair opposite them.

The girl leaned on Sunglasses’ shoulder, smiling hazily, “We were just about to get started.”

“With what?” Kaiba asked with obvious disinterest.

They didn’t seem to catch it. Fur Coat just giggled as Sunglasses leaned down to grab something from a bag sitting next to him.

Kaiba watched as the guy produced a small bag and poured a white powder onto the table. Cocaine. Or sugar or something, if they were morons like the indoor sunglasses suggested.

Sunglasses fumbled with a driver's licence to make a line with the powder.

Even if he wasn't acting as Seto Kaiba at the moment, and even if the partygoers were just a bunch of degenerates, it wasn't going to stop him from showing off, and he was buzzed enough to be fine with making horrible decisions. He had no personal experience with cocaine, but he’d been disgusted enough times watching business snort it in private rooms at events to get the picture.

He pulled out his wallet, making sure to cover his name on the gold credit card, and quickly and meticulously swiped the coke into a thin line. He carefully placed it back in his wallet and then produced a slip of 10,000 yen and made sure to flash it before rolling it up. Both individuals were staring at him incredulously.

The next part...Kaiba wasn't sure he could do. Well, he was sure he could play it off. He just wasn't sure how it was going to feel. Sunglasses drummed on his legs as Kaiba snorted the line. No one had to find out about this, right? He surely could control himself on one line of coke. He hadn't had anything else, or anything to drink. It would be fine.

His eyes widened a bit as Sunglasses poured out more powder.

"Well, big boy, think you can snort a bigger line?"

A challenge. Kaiba clasped and unclasped his fists. Fine. He set up again, this time the line reached almost all the way across the narrow glass table. This was insanity. He stuck the money up his nose again and inhaled roughly. The feeling wasn't that pleasant, but not unbearable as he got to the end. He quickly stood up, ignoring Fur Coat as she feebly tried to encourage him to keep going. Kaiba had nothing he needed to prove. He wasn't thrill seeking with drugs. He needed to find Atem and leave immediately.

He looked through the hazy room, blanketed in smoke and the stench of sex, weed, and cigarettes. Atem wasn't that hard to spot. He was wedged between two individuals who were being a bit handsy with him, and he seemed to be engaged in enthusiastic conversation. One was a male in his 20s with blonde cropped hair in a nondescript t-shirt and tight jeans. The other was a brunette. And that was about all the information Kaiba wanted to deduce before he pulled Atem out from between them. He quickly dragged Atem outside.

"Stay…” Kaiba began to say as Atem began casually touching him. He grabbed Atem by the wrists and shoved him away, and suddenly forgot why he’d gone outside in the first place, “...Stay here."

He could feel himself start to vibrate. He regretted partaking, but at the same time it felt kind of amazing. He sort of forgot what he was doing as he watched Atem start to wander off, and grabbed him by the arm.

"Back inside?" Atem asked, "It's cold out here."

"Yeah..." Kaiba muttered and followed Atem back into the humid room. The color of the room looked brighter and he could feel the music in his bones. Atem shoved his hand in front of Kaiba's face.

"Want it?" Slightly tan fingers wagged a colorful piece of paper in front of Kaiba's eyes.

Kaiba opened his mouth to speak and Atem stuck the paper in his mouth before he could protest. It simply tasted like paper, and Kaiba closed his mouth around it. Atem left him alone for a moment and came back holding something else, his hand closed around it. He opened his hand and showed Kaiba what seemed to be a small assortment of candies.

"I don't...do sweets..." Kaiba replied, suddenly feeling oddly sick.

Atem shook his head and smiled, "It’s not sweets."

Kaiba didn't understand what Atem was saying at this point and took the one of the colorful shapes, inspecting it in his own hand.

"You gotta swallow it, stupid." Atem giggled. It made Kaiba feel even stranger.

Kaiba grunted and hesitantly dumped the small, colorful object into his mouth and crushed it between his teeth, barely acknowledging the bland taste. Atem looked horrified.

"...What?" Kaiba asked.

"Why did you eat it like that?"

"Like what?"

"You...chewed it? That has to be bad for your teeth."

Kaiba immediately covered his mouth with his hand, swearing he could taste blood. When had the music changed to piano? And Atem looked like how he always had before, just like Yugi and not some weird indie artist with Egyptian themed tattoos. He began laughing without meaning to. When he opened his mouth it felt like his teeth fell out but he could physically feel that they were still firmly attached to his gums. It was sort of unpleasant, yet not at all.

Atem started laughing, and he sounded the way Kaiba had always imagined. Did Atem ever laugh in front of him before? It was better than any music. He was gorgeous.

 

Atem had been out of it for a short while now. He might have been a little overzealous in his heightened state, too enthusiastic in showing Kaiba the world he had discovered in his years alone. If he was in his right mind, he'd know he’d given Kaiba too much at once, especially for his first time. He didn't know whether Kaiba had done anything else beforehand, either. Or when Kaiba had returned, or if he had even left. He had been upset and gotten high out of his mind immediately. They hadn’t even been at the party that long. But in the moment, he was just excited for Kaiba to try his favorite things, and he was excited to be on those things with someone he was fond of. The anxiety around Kaiba disappeared in his heightened state.

Seeing Kaiba laugh shook him up a little, though. He came back to the reality that this wasn't reality, without losing the effect of the high. All of the sensations he was feeling were still there as he watched Kaiba drop to his knees and feel around like he had dropped something. It made Atem laugh again.

Kaiba stood back up, looking happily at him. Atem vaguely remembered touching Kaiba earlier, outside, and suddenly wanted to touch him more. He reached his hands out to touch Kaiba's chest. Kaiba slowly backed up against the wall as Atem touched him, but didn't move to stop him.

Atem was mostly aware of what he was doing, and could only stop himself enough so as not to go too far. He limited himself to touching over Kaiba's clothes, though the sensation of doing so and Kaiba being so responsive to it was driving him crazy. Kaiba was smiling, and Atem was vaguely certain Kaiba had tried _something,_ unless he had drank more and was a happy sort of drunk. He didn’t mind it, but his conscience was screaming for him to get his hands off him while he was like this.

Atem grabbed his hand, felt a chill run up his arm as Kaiba intertwined their fingers, and pulled him from the house. Kaiba was quiet and compliant following Atem back, and surprisingly, the walk didn’t feel as long coming back. He felt his mind return to reality, even though the effects of the drugs still held his senses captive.

He pulled Kaiba inside his apartment, and sat him down on the bed. Kaiba immediately pulled him down on top of him.

“You’re so pretty.” Kaiba cooed, groping his ass as Atem struggled to get off of him to no avail.

Atem felt his resolve slip, and crashed his lips against Kaiba clumsily, knocking their teeth together. Kaiba laughed, and pulled him in again, pressing his tongue forcefully in Atem’s mouth. He tasted like alcohol, his mouth was very warm and wet. Atem could feel Kaiba pressing against his thigh, and moved his hand to grasp his erection through his clothes.

Kaiba moaned into his mouth and bit his lip painfully, Atem pulled back, tasting blood leaking into his mouth as Kaiba covered his face with his hands, moaning lewdly.

Atem gasped, moving his leg to press his thigh between Kaiba’s legs.

Kaiba grabbed him, got on top of him, and began fumbling with his belt.

Atem’s eyes widened, “Wait wait wait-”

“Shut up and let me fuck you.” Kaiba growled, pulling Atem’s pants and boxers down together roughly.

Atem laid there, letting Kaiba do as he pleased while he figured out what he should do. This was what he wanted - but...not exactly. This was Kaiba on drugs. Literally.

Kaiba completely removed Atem’s pants, and then began undoing his own.

It was also strange - since Kaiba didn’t exactly look like Kaiba. Atem felt the room spin slightly, wondering if it really _wasn’t_ Kaiba and he had just brought some random guy back to his apartment and was just about to let him take his virginity. Atem reached up, and grabbed the hat and glasses, throwing them to the side.

His hair puffed up for a moment, but immediately fell back down, his bangs hanging just above his eyes. Atem was a little more sure it was Kaiba, just as Kaiba whipped out his dick.

Atem crawled back on the bed slightly, “U-uh you sure you wanna jump straight to-”

Kaiba grabbed him by the shoulders, and pulled him back toward him.

“You should at least-” Atem began to reach back for the edge of the bed, the side pressed up against the wall, but Kaiba grabbed his arm and pinned it down. Atem felt both excited and completely terrified. If Kaiba really wanted to fuck him _this_ badly, even when high, surely there was a little of that feeling when he was sober, right?

Unfortunately, Atem had just been reaching for the lube, and it was likely going to be _really_ painful without it.

He also came back to the reality that Kaiba was trying to fuck him, plus the fact that Kaiba was also probably tripping at that moment. Atem started struggling against Kaiba’s grip, but he already knew he was probably too weak to fight off someone who literally towered over him.

“Kaiba, let me go.” Atem said weakly, hoping Kaiba would listen for once in his life.

Kaiba dug his teeth into Atem’s neck, and Atem made a strange involuntary noise. He felt the head of Kaiba's dick prod his entrance.

“For the record,” Atem breathed, and moaned as Kaiba sucked roughly on his neck, “I’m...only saying no...because you’re high…”

Atem felt him slip past, his dick sort of underneath him but between his asscheeks. Not inside him. He had missed, but seemed to be too high to notice as he began thrusting.

Atem breathed a sigh of relief, and bit his lip. It was sort of awkward, but still insanely arousing. Kaiba’s moaning was a better sound than he could have possibly imagined.

Atem felt himself tearing up slightly. There was no way he could stop Kaiba, he was holding his arms against the bed almost painfully, but that wasn’t the issue. If Kaiba remembered this in the morning, even if Kaiba did secretly return his feelings, or at least wanted to fuck him, it was likely he was never going to see him again.

Kaiba’s face was buried in the crook of his neck, and Atem pressed his face into his hair, “Please don’t...hate me...when you sober up…” Atem mumbled incoherently. It was sort of hard to remain upset, however, when Kaiba was moaning into his shoulder and ‘fucking’ him.

However, Kaiba’s dick was beginning to chafe painfully. Kaiba got louder, and thrusted harder a few times before Atem felt liquid spread out underneath him.

Then Kaiba collapsed on top of him.

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Whew. This is my longest chapter yet. I'm surprised I got it out in time! But I really wanted to! For uh. Certainly obvious reasons.

I hope I made it clear that they were both acting weird because they were uh *cough* under the influence, even when I didn't explicitly say it was because they were in an altered state. It was weird writing them acting pretty ooc even diverging from my own version of their characters. But I hope you liked it~

Let me know what you think ;)

 **Next Update:** July 27th

~James

///also this chapter is sort of inspired by [Ugli](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettiugli/pseuds/prettiugli) because I love all their dub-con scenes and use of disguises - but of course I put my own spin on those things and made it awkward because I love awkward\\\\\\\

 

~Also I drew Kaiba's disguises from this chapter~


	12. Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Atem felt the breath leave his lungs as Kaiba’s entire weight dropped on top of him. He felt his dick painfully twitch against Kaiba’s crushing abdomen and briefly considered how okay he was with dying like this. Eventually his constricted rib cage made him change his mind, and he frantically tapped on Kaiba’s arm.

“I can’t…” Atem gasped for air, half worried that Kaiba had legitimately passed out.

Kaiba lifted himself by his elbows and threw Atem the most boyish grin he had ever seen. A smile, full of teeth, shockingly not as perfect and white as they seemed from afar or on TV. It might have just been the after affects of the drugs and the brown contacts, but suddenly Kaiba just looked like...a regular guy. As regular as Joey or Tristan, maybe.

Atem felt his heart swell at the sight of the face Kaiba was making. It made his lips curl up into a smile and he immediately felt Kaiba’s lips lunge at him. His breath once again left his body, but this time more metaphorically.

Kaiba pulled back and Atem moaned in protest of the separation, before letting out a squeak at the eager teeth brought to his neck, sinking painfully into his skin.

“Ow!” Atem gasped, instinctively attempting to shove Kaiba away.

Kaiba laughed and rolled over, off of him. Atem then discovered the discomfort in his whole body. His neck was throbbing, his hands were stiff at the wrists from how forcefully he had been pinned down, and the cum between his asscheeks was beginning to dry and itch. He needed a hot shower.

He looked over at Kaiba and suddenly felt self conscience about the fact he was naked from the waist-down and Kaiba was still entirely clothed.

“Do you…” Atem began to ask, and felt his voice falter. It was extremely unnecessary to bring Kaiba into the shower with him. However, it would be risky to leave an unpredictably high Kaiba alone.

Atem sighed, slowly getting up and feeling every muscle in his body ache. His fruitless efforts of fighting back had been more strenuous than he had realized.

“Kaiba….would you be fine with...showering?” He asked apprehensively.

Kaiba simply hopped up from the bed and began taking his clothes off, starting with his pants.

Atem averted his eyes, and began taking his shirt off slowly, with a bit of difficulty due to his sore wrists.

“Need help?” Kaiba asked, without hesitation reaching to grab the edge of his shirt and lifted it off Atem's shorter frame easily.

Atem felt his legs tremble and almost fell over, but Kaiba caught him by the waist and steadied him. He was enjoying this Kaiba too much. It wasn’t real.

Kaiba swiftly returned to removing his own clothing, and was standing completely naked in front of Atem within moments. Atem severely repressed the urge to touch him, and ignored the way Kaiba’s eyes lingered lower as he felt his dick pulse.

“This is surreal…” Atem mumbled to himself, grabbing Kaiba by the wrist and leading him into the bathroom. 

Kaiba being inside of the small space made it feel even smaller. He was taller than the showerhead on the wall.

“It’s going to be cold, at first…” Atem said sheepishly, guiding Kaiba to stand closer to the wall with his hand on his chest. 

Kaiba was now strangely passive. He was smiling dazedly. It was an expression Atem had witnessed countless times, usually at the end of the night when the party died down and most partygoers passed out and all that was left were the chill ones. He felt guilty not knowing how much Kaiba had taken.

The water ran icy cold for a while, but Atem felt himself heat up as he couldn’t help but check Kaiba out. Kaiba was still hard.

Atem stepped back into the water, letting the lukewarm water rush over him and rubbed his eyes. He felt Kaiba’s hands rest on his shoulders and looked up into brown pupils.

“You should take those out,” Atem said without thinking.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow.

“Your contacts…” Atem explained and paused, “You should take them out. I don’t know how badly you’re still tripping. You might think I’m taking out your eyeballs if I try to myself. Which might be funny to watch...” Atem tried to laugh, but Kaiba just blinked at him.

Atem sighed, reaching up, and pulling Kaiba’s face toward him by the back of his neck. He gently tapped Kaiba’s eye, which Kaiba responded to by reflexively jerking away.

“You need to take it out. Just sort of. Tap your eyeball. I’m sure you can afford to lose the contacts if you mess them up.”

Kaiba awkwardly dug around his eye, removing both and severely irritating his eyes in the process. The corners of his eyes were red and angry, and without the contacts it was obvious how much his pupils were dilated. The blue rings of his irises were thin around his large, black pupils. It sort of gave the same effect as the contacts. He looked more innocent, more approachable, if not strange.

Even besides that, he looked almost entirely nothing like Atem had imagined him to look like naked. There was some muscle visible in his abdomen and upper arms, but his ribs were also poking out. He was scrawnier than expected. Atem figured that was the fault of visual effects and, probably, padding, to give Kaiba a visually more muscular figure on television.

Kaiba’s dick was...a bit longer than he’d imagined. Proportional to Kaiba’s height, Atem supposed, but he hadn’t ever considered how that would actually  _ look.  _ It was also a little more girthy than anticipated. Atem felt a bit more thankful that Kaiba had missed after really getting a look at it, but felt his heart rate unsteadily increase thinking about it how it might actually feel.

Atem shook himself out of his musings as the water grew hot, and quickly reached to grab the soap. He rubbed the bar of soap in his hand, letting the bubbles collect and awkwardly handed it off to Kaiba, who simply began to apply the bar directly onto himself.

Atem blinked, and wondered if it would be gross to continue using it as he watched Kaiba lather himself.

“Need help?” Kaiba asked teasingly, and before Atem could respond, Kaiba pressed himself up against him, rubbing the bar across his back. 

Atem tried to ignore Kaiba’s dick pressing into his abdomen, or his own sliding between Kaiba’s balls.Atem held his breath as Kaiba washed him, desperately trying to ignore the slight feeling of embarrassment from being bathed by someone else. Especially since Kaiba wasn’t being shy to touch him absolutely everywhere.

“Th-that’s enough,” Atem finally broke as Kaiba’s hand slid underneath his balls. 

Kaiba dropped the bar of soap, and Atem watched it follow the stream of water to the drain and sit there as Kaiba began caressing his abdomen.

“Wh-”

Atem almost slipped as Kaiba slammed him against the wall, grabbing him roughly at the waist. He looked down to see Kaiba’s thumb brushing over the tattoo on his stomach and felt the blood retreat almost entirely into his face. To add to the embarrassed flutter in his chest, Kaiba dropped to his knees and began kissing his abdomen. It was hard to stay embarrassed, however, with Kaiba's mouth hovering so close to his erection, and Kaiba's hands gripping him by his thighs. He began to think of Kaiba's interest in the tattoo as more of a blessing as Kaiba took his entire length into his mouth.

He slapped his hand over his mouth to stiffly the throaty moan he gave when he felt the tip hit the back of Kaiba's throat. His resolve slipped as he frantically fumbled to shut off the water. Any consideration about trying to stop this went out the window as he felt Kaiba's tongue swirl around the head. Atem buried his hand in the wet mat of Kaiba’s hair and gripped it tightly. He began thrusting in and out of Kaiba’s throat, surprised and delighted to find that Kaiba was handling it well. It felt fucking amazing, even as Kaiba’s nails dug into his thighs.

Atem felt himself edging, thrusting deeper into Kaiba’s throat and unable to will himself to pull back. He wanted to orgasm like this, in Kaiba’s mouth, and watch it drip from his lips, if that was the image that was going to get him killed when Kaiba sobered up.

He pulled Kaiba’s head toward him as he finally came. He felt the warmth fill Kaiba’s throat and spill out from the lips around his cock. The guilt finally settled in when Kaiba pulled back, coughing and sputtering.

“Fuck I’m sorry-”

He swore Kaiba was laughing between coughing, but it was hard to discern whether the tears on his cheeks were actual tears or residual water from his wet hair. Maybe both. White liquid was also spilling out of his nose, as well a hint of blood. It looked very painful.

“Are you alright?” Atem dropped to his knees and cupped Kaiba’s face in his hands.

Kaiba gave a few more ragged coughs, and gave Atem a dazed smile.

Okay, he wanted Kaiba back.

Seeing Kaiba smile this much, and in this particular instance, was uncomfortable. It was hard to decide whether this whole thing was a dream or a nightmare.

“Let’s...finish cleaning up...and then...we’ll go the fuck to sleep so we can skip to you hating me again in the morning, okay?”

Kaiba laughed and nodded, and Atem was almost afraid he’d accidentally fucked up his brain along with his head. Hopefully the vacant expression on Kaiba’s face was temporary.

He turned back on the water, and stiffened as the water had gone cold again. Kaiba seemed to be unfazed by it. Atem awkwardly wiped off Kaiba’s face and washed his own hair. Kaiba dutifully dried himself with the towel given to him, and Atem did the same before struggling to get Kaiba to dress himself.

Eventually he gave up trying to get Kaiba back into his stiff jeans and restrictive turtleneck, and gave him a t-shirt and some basketball shorts. Atem felt too exhausted and sore to really worry about the fact that Kaiba was obviously going to realize that he had gotten changed, if he didn’t remember anything else.

Atem put on sweatpants and a tank top then moved to sit Kaiba down at the table. He glanced to the bed and back to Kaiba. There was an easy way to possibly get Kaiba to sleep, but it involved doing something that could possibly fuck everything up more. But he didn’t want to risk anything  _ more  _ sexual; they'd already gone a little too far. It was already established that Atem was too weak to keep Kaiba off of him, and too weak-willed to actually make much of an effort to refuse.

"...Would you hate me if I got you more high?" Atem asked, knowing Kaiba wasn’t able to properly respond at that moment. It was also dangerous to keep shoving shit into Kaiba’s system, but it felt like the only option apart from possibly tying Kaiba up in the farthest corner of the room. But it was a small room.

Kaiba stared blankly at him, blood beginning to run from his nose again. Atem grabbed a red shirt and pressed it into his face.

“Hold that there,” and then set about finding Kaiba’s wallet. It was still in the back pocket of his jeans, and Atem tentatively pulled a 10,000 bill, and hoped to god his assumption was true about Kaiba being too rich to notice. 

He paused by the door and looked back at Kaiba, who was obediently holding the shirt up against his nose.

“...I’ll be right back. Hopefully.”

Kaiba nodded.

Atem hurried out the door, practically hopping over to the neighbor he’d left his stash with and hastily knocked on her door.

“I'm coming, calm down!” She began yelling before she even opened the door, “Oh hey cutie.”

“It’s not a kiss but I think you’ll enjoy this more.” Atem said quickly, shoving the bill between her eyes.

She reached up and grabbed it, looking at it, and then back up at him, and shrugged, “Sure thing. Want your stuff?”

“Yes please.” Atem bowed his head slightly.

“Mhmm,” She said, shoving the bill into her shirt and briefly disappearing into the apartment before returning with the box.

Atem hastily grabbed it, “Thanks.”

“What happened to your neck?” She raised an eyebrow at him suggestively.

Atem blinked, unsure of what she was talking about, “Nothing happened…”

She smiled suggestively, “You don’t have to hide anything from me. Spill the nasty details, maybe you can spell it out for me between my-”

Atem got the picture, “Sorry, but he’s waiting on me,” and reached in, grabbing the doorknob and closing the door for her before returning briskly to his own apartment. He wondered how bad his neck actually looked. Kaiba  _ had  _ bitten him a few times.

Atem breathed a sigh of relief when Kaiba was exactly as he had left him, and placed the box on the bed. He glanced around the room, and snatched up his own phone.

It was dark outside, and Atem vaguely wondered why Kaiba’s phone hadn’t been blowing up with messages from Mokuba. Unless it had been, and Kaiba’s phone was off or silent. He felt obligated to let Mokuba know that his brother was...alright, as well as cover for Kaiba on what had happened, at least as far as his brother was concerned.

> **You:** The party ran late
> 
> **You** : I don’t think Kaiba should drive, he’s too exhausted
> 
> **You:** I convinced him to spend the night, I have space, he said ok
> 
> **You:** Good night (smiley face)

It sounded a bit suspicious, but the driving thing probably wasn’t good enough of an excuse. The Kaibas had chauffeurs to drive them everywhere, and Atem thought it wasn’t too much of a stretch to say there wasn’t one who would be available to pick either of them up this late. He also had to make it sound as reassuring as possible, thus, smiley face. Hopefully that would be enough.

> **Mokuba:** (thumbs up) Night!

“I can’t believe that worked…” Atem sighed, and glimpsed over at Kaiba still sitting at the table.

He moved to set up the pipe, taking out the supplies and packing the bowl.

"What is that?" Kaiba spoke up with a clarity that sent shivers down Atem’s spine.

Atem looked up, seeing Kaiba’s dilated eyes staring curiously, his whole body leaning forward as blood continued to leak from his nose. Atem winced, relieved that Kaiba was still obviously a bit high, but felt guilty thinking about how exactly he had gotten a nosebleed.

Atem hurried over and helped him out a bit, and shoved some toilet paper in to clog up the bleeding. Then he brought the pipe to his own lips and took the longest hit he could, hoping to calm his own nerves.

“Smells good,” Kaiba laughed, “Also terrible.”

Atem smiled tightly, “Wanna try?”

He pressed the pipe into Kaiba’s mouth and instructed him on inhaling. He took a surprisingly steady hit and then held it, long enough for Atem to get nervous.

“You can exh-”

Smoke leaked from the nostril that was not blocked, in a thick grey stream that built and floated back up around his face. Atem found a small chuckle in his throat, thinking that Kaiba looked like a very odd dragon.  

Atem took a few more hints, passing it off to Kaiba in between, who quickly got the hang of it. Atem felt his nerves settle, watching Kaiba’s eyelids droop, glad that it was actually working to calm him down.

“Wanna go to bed?” Atem asked, cleaning out the pipe. Kaiba grunted, getting up and collapsing onto the bed. Atem chuckled, “Okay, I’ll use the floor.”

Kaiba moaned in displeasure.

“Do you...want me to…” 

_ Sleep with you  _ was the wrong phrase.

Kaiba grunted again, shifting to a more comfortable position that also made room for Atem to lay next to him.

Atem reluctantly clambered onto the bed, only to be immediately wrapped up in Kaiba’s arms. It was fine. The last bit of intimacy with Kaiba he was going to get before the downfall he anticipated waking up to.

  
  


It felt warm, and sweaty. Everything felt oddly numb but also in intense pain. There was a weight huddled against his chest, and his eyes felt like they were glued shut.

“Mokuba...you’re too old to be sleeping in my bed…” Kaiba moaned, forcing his crusty eyes open and realizing he wasn’t at home. He looked down to be met with the violet tips of spiky hair brushing against his chin, and became aware that Atem was currently curled up against him, with his arm strewn across his chest.

Kaiba contemplated his approach. He was too sore to simply kick his ass. His throat felt like he’d swallowed sandpaper and there was a god awful taste on his tongue, so yelling felt like it was out of the question. If he could will himself to simply fall back asleep and pretend it wasn't happening, he would. That was when he tried to think about what exactly had brought him to that point.

He’d gone to the stupid party. He was buzzed. He smashed some coke, like a fucking idiot. Atem gave him some colorful bullshit. Everything after that was a bit confusing and disconnected.

He looked around the room, realizing that they were back in Atem’s apartment. He also noticed pieces of his outfit on the floor, and the fact that he was now wearing something entirely different.

How the fuck had they gotten back to Atem’s apartment? And why the fuck had he changed clothes? He reached up with the hand that wasn’t pinned under Atem to rub his eyes, and brushed up against something on his face. He pulled some tissue out of his nose, with some resistance, and discovered it was covered in dried blood. Had he gotten in a fight? How had he gotten so fucked up?

He had to wake Atem up and make him explain exactly what the fuck had happened. Additionally, he was growing more uncomfortable by the minute with Atem  _ cuddling  _ him.

He shoved Atem off of him roughly by the shoulder, “Wake the fuck up.”

Atem hit the wall and groaned, clutching his head.

“Good morning sunshine,” Kaiba spat bitterly, sitting up, “Explain what the fuck happened.”

Atem’s eyes opened, and then widened, before he scrambled to get up off the bed, “I-I can explain,” he said, standing at the foot of the bed drawing his elbows in and spreading his hands out as if to shield his chest.

Kaiba felt his temper grow, “Then start talking.”

Atem looked pathetic. His lip trembled, as his eyes darted around frantically, and he stuttered hopelessly. Kaiba had never seen him like this, and found the strength to get up just to loom over him threateningly. Then he noticed the bruises on Atem’s neck and wrists as Atem shrunk even further.

Kaiba had no idea what to think of it, and swayed on the spot uneasily. Did something bad happen?

“Why do you…” Kaiba croaked, hesitating as a feeling of dread washed over him, but continued, “Why are you covered in bruises?”

Atem’s eyes widened, and he looked down at his wrists and brought one of his hands to his neck. He averted his eyes, “I-it’s nothing…”

“Bullshit,” Kaiba hissed, “What the fuck happened.”

Atem slumped his shoulders. His bangs covered his face. Before he had looked frightened, now he looked ashamed.

The hair had moved off of his neck, and Kaiba could easily conclude the purple mark wasn’t just a bruise. It was a hickey. That combined with the bruises on Atem’s wrists drew a pretty disgusting picture in Kaiba’s head.

“Did someone…” Kaiba didn’t even have to finish the question before Atem flinched. That answer was a yes. He felt his own body itch all over as he noticed the places where he was sore. It was mostly his throat.

“How did we get back here?” Kaiba asked as calmly as he could. He wasn’t going to jump to any conclusions if he could help it, but he felt his breathing start to quicken and hitch.

“We walked…” Atem mumbled, hugging himself.

“What…” He couldn’t bring himself to ask the question. His distress must have been obvious, because Atem immediately looked at him.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Atem said hastily as Kaiba felt his legs give out and sat back down on the bed.

“No, it’s  _ not fucking okay.”  _ Kaiba replied, trying to sparse through the strange memories he could remember and prevent himself from breaking down in front of Atem. The only thing he remembered somewhat clearly was a Blue Eyes White Dragon and that just seemed ridiculous. He clutched his head, trying to remember, not hearing Atem at all if he was bothering to say anything. He knew this feeling. It was a panic attack.

Atem’s voice sounded like he was hearing it from underwater, and it felt like the pressure was growing all around him. He was vaguely aware of himself puking, but it felt sort of like that happened in third person. He was brought back to reality with a wet cloth pressed up against his lips.

He watched emotionlessly as Atem attempted to clean him up. He felt himself crying, the tears silently and unceremoniously rolling down his cheeks. Everyone was taking care of him lately. Even Atem, who he’d been nothing but cold and malicious toward since they’d once again come into contact. But he couldn’t just accept that Atem had let something so disgusting happen.

He felt nauseous again, at the faint memory of getting throat-fucked by a Blue Eyes.

“Tell me what the fuck happened.” Kaiba asked weakly.

Atem paused, and put down the cloth on Kaiba’s lap, “We…”

“We?” Kaiba asked, unable to believe his ears, “Fucking,  _ we?” _

“I’m sorry-”

“You fucking  _ drugged _ me?”

“No, I didn’t mean-”

“You did this to me, because of your pathetic, disgusting, fucking obsession-”

“No!”

“You’re more lowlife and degenerate than I thought-”

“Please just let me-”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Atem began sobbing, “I mean, I guess I didn’t stop you but I sort of couldn’t and-”

_ “What?” _

“I was high...I got you more high, not exactly on purpose, but I did...I realized I fucked up so I brought you back...and you…it wasn’t my intention for things to go that way...” Atem was digging his nails into his palm and avoiding eye contact intensely.

He was either lying, or ashamed about telling the truth. Kaiba didn’t know which he wanted to believe. Either Atem drugged him on purpose, or he didn’t. Either way it happened, and they felt equally revolting because it either meant Atem was a disgusting pig or it meant that Kaiba had no one to blame, except maybe himself for going to the party at all.

Atem was shrinking into himself, becoming incomprehensible in his babbling. Kaiba felt his stomach churn, looking at the intense bruising on Atem’s wrists and neck. If no else had been involved - those were his fault.

“Let’s say I believe you, that it was a mistake…” Kaiba said, breaking off Atem abruptly, “How did you get those...bruises.”

Atem looked embarrassed, “You...held me down.”

"So...we fucked."

"...Yeah."

Kaiba felt himself get defensive, "What was I expecting. How many people have you taken back to your shitty apartment? Should I get  _ tested for anything?" _

"Fuck you. No one. And you fucked me, not the other way around."

“Oh, so my throat wasn’t a victim of your sick interest?”

“I...Kaiba. Just. Please. Let’s calm down and talk about it.”

Kaiba took a deep breath, “Fine.”

“...Really?”

_ “You’re testing my patience.” _

“Sorry...um. I don’t know, it was a mistake. A stupid mistake. I fucked up. I don’t know what happened with you, you were just, I don’t know, already high or drunk enough to let me give you more - not blaming you, I just, it happened...then we came back and I really tried to stop you but I’m too weak to fight back-”

“Wait. You’re really claiming  _ I  _ assaulted _ you?” _

“...Yes. Only because you were high.”

Kaiba put his face in his hands. He felt like killing Atem. It was also entirely torturous - the terrible reality didn’t line up at all with sensations he remembered. It had all felt incredible. He couldn’t even say he was surprised he tried to fuck the first thing that moved - it’d been a while since he’d actually had sex, or gotten off at all. He was too busy, too stressed. 

He supposed the only thing that really mattered was the truth. If Atem had drugged him in order to get him to fuck him. 

Manipulating the truth out of Atem had to be easy. He had practically shit himself when Kaiba had initially asked him what happened.

"You mean you never fantasized about it?" Kaiba asked condescendingly.

“...About...what?”

Kaiba stood up, and strode over to Atem, getting as close as possible, sort of delighting in the fact that he smelled like vomit, “About drugging me up and fucking me?”

Atem looked visibly hurt, “No, I would never want to-”

Kaiba smirked, “Oh don’t let your morals play into it. It’s alright. Wish you would’ve given me a warning.”

Atem shook his head, looking horrified, “No, that’s not….that’s not what I want at all.”

Kaiba frowned, “Okay.  _ Maybe _ you’re telling the truth.”

Atem shoved him away, “Of course I am!”

Kaiba ran his hand through his hair, “Yeah. Okay. So. What the fuck do I do now?” And held up his hand before Atem could say anything, “Rhetorical question.”

He tried to consider his own feelings. He didn’t give a shit about Atem, really.  At this point he wanted to leave him to rot. But his actual memories about the sex were almost arousing as they kept coming back to him in sensations, and maybe if Atem decided not to make him a wreck in the morning he could...possibly…

He’d never exactly considered having sex with a man. It was much easier to find women who wanted to fuck their way to the top, and they were easy to intimidate if they were too annoying. Any gay man he’d encountered before was irritatingly flamboyant, but that might have only been due to the fact they were out because they literally couldn’t possibly hide it.

He wasn’t repulsed by the idea. The slight trauma of the night before did put a damper on things, but if Mokuba was going to force him to keep Atem in his life, he might as well make him useful.

“You’re available to me whenever I want you.” Kaiba said flatly, picking up the pieces of the original disguise he had arrived in. They seemed to still be clean, and he’d change immediately after arriving home anyway. Or he’d call a car to pick him up and bring a change of clothes.

Atem was stunned into silence. His expression showed an obvious lack of understanding.

Kaiba rolled his eyes, “I need to get off. You’re easy, slutty, and available. The only reason I’m keeping you in my life at all is because of Mokuba. You can make yourself useful, or all I have to do is explain exactly how much you fucked this up.”

Atem’s eye twitched, “So you’re...not angry?”

“If you died tomorrow I’d go out of my way to set your corpse on fire and see to it that your ashes were disposed of in a landfill.”

“...But you…”

“Turn me down once and I’ll make you wish I was burning your corpse.” Kaiba stated, and began to change back into the outfit. It didn’t really matter if he was changing in front of Atem. He had already seen him naked anyway, and was going to see him naked again if this arrangement worked out. Plus, he got off on it, right?

This was making the best of shitty circumstances, Kaiba told himself. And he really didn’t care anymore. If he was supposed to drink less, he’d need something to relieve his stress.

Atem was silent while he got dressed, standing there awkwardly like a schoolgirl hesitating to give her crush a confession. Kaiba strode over and grabbed him by the hair, enjoying the frightened expression on Atem’s face.

He bent down and softly pressed his lips against Atem’s.

It didn’t feel half bad. Atem’s lips were soft.

He shoved his tongue between Atem’s teeth, to which Atem gagged at the taste. It was a cocktail of what Kaiba could discern as alcohol, whatever drugs he did last night, plausibly cum, and fresh vomit. 

Kaiba pulled back with a cocky grin, and left.

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Fifteen Minutes of Fame: a brief period of fame that a person enjoys before fading back into obscurity.

I hope this chapter wasn't  _too_ dark, woof. I had it planned out but in practice it got pretty serious, but I guess it's hard to expect Kaiba to be happy about all that...heh.

Please give me feedback! I love hearing from you guys! It makes me happy! It makes me wanna write!

 **Next Update:** August 3rd

~ James

Also I wrote this chapter in one night hopefully it's alright///


	13. Dusty Jigsaw Puzzles

Kaiba began questioning every decision he had made since he stepped out of the house the night before. Everything that had led up to the point that had made the entire exchange in the aftermath of the party possible.

His decision to get drunk before even showing up had been the first mistake.

No, the first was stashing alcohol in the car in the first place. And the decision to carry a flask. Wait. Where _was_ the flask anyway?

Kaiba felt his head throb, remembering he had thrown it in the grass before entering the party and had never bothered to pick it up. What other idiotic things had he done that night?

Well, everything, but his mind specifically came back to sunglasses and the girl in the fur coat. He used his gold card to cut a line of coke. Well. That had to go. Along with the bills and the wallet he was carrying them in. Good thing he had left his more impressive cards at home - otherwise the drunk version of himself would have made much larger of a mistake showing off to some junkies.

He pulled out his phone, ignoring the notifications momentarily, and sent a message to Isono requesting him to bring around a car and a change of clothes. At least Mokuba had seemed to clue Isono in on his little plot, so he had nothing he had to explain, except possibly the part about it being a party involving _illegal substances -_ which Mokuba probably left out.

His phone had apparently been blowing up since the early hours of the morning, evident by the cascade of notifications.

Some were from last night: simple check-in messages from Mokuba and mockery of the fact Kaiba was ignoring him. The list included one message of confirmation about Kaiba spending the night that said “Ignore this message if you’re actually spending the night with Atem.” The request was so utterly sarcastic, he was half surprised Mokuba hadn’t tried to follow it up in the morning.

Atem must’ve told Mokuba that Kaiba was “spending the night” to cover his tracks. He supposed that, in Mokuba’s eyes, Atem had no reason to lie. But even Mokuba had to know one night wasn’t going to make them _friends,_ or that Atem could in any way convince him to spend a night in his shitty apartment. He had to assume in that case that Mokuba thought Kaiba always made sure to at least check his messages - which was usually true. Consistency was really working against him this time. Because of the phrasing, not responding allowed Mokuba to remain unintentionally ignorant. He didn’t know whether that worked in or against his favor - that depended on whether Atem had sent Mokuba the message before or after they fucked. The time stamp suggested after, otherwise he would probably still have to be completely tripping to remember so little of what had happened.

He checked the messages from his secretary, and they were about what he expected them to be. He’d been largely absent the past few days, and hungover and/or sleep deprived for longer than that, plus she was a newly hired replacement for the other he accidentally fired. His backlog was already overwhelming, especially with the new project beginning animal testing within the next few days. Her messages detailed complaints about the workload that had been shifted onto her within only a day and a morning’s total absence, and Kaiba was fairly certain by the tone of her messages that she was going to put in a notice of her resignation very soon.

Well, being the secretary of a CEO who actually holds himself accountable of all his responsibilities _as_ a CEO wasn’t all answering phone calls and neat highlighted calendar scheduling. Anyone who thought so was a fool anyway, and he didn't want anything to do with them. But it was sorely inconvenient to replace his secretary a second time within the span of a only few weeks.

He wasn’t going to be able to take any more breaks, but he’d have to avoid hospitalization at all costs while whatever drugs that had been shoved into his body were still detectable within his system. It would be fairly easy to get away with it even if a doctor were to hear about it - but that was a pain, and he felt no moral conflict about the whole situation so long as he didn’t get caught. Bribing and shutting people up about slander was one thing, drug abuse was another.

Additionally, journalists of skeevy tabloids would _kill_ for a story like that. He’d have to take extreme measures to prevent any rumors. Which, he anxiously hoped, he hadn't already screwed up. This also meant staying as far away from Atem’s neighborhood as possible from that point onward - not something he was going to complain about.

He had requested the car to pick him up on the edge of the quaint suburban neighborhood outside the main city. A few people actually walked past him on the walk there: a couple walking their dog, a young delinquent who was paying more attention to the music in their headphones anyhow, and a woman on a morning run. He made sure to keep his eyes out of view, noting that at least he had taken out his contacts before sleeping, otherwise his eyes would be much drier and in much more pain than they currently were. The strangers barely gave him a second glance, which felt somewhat elating. It caused the temptation to go out in disguise again, in much better circumstances, find a home in Kaiba’s mind. But it wasn’t like he’d have time for that anytime soon, or, he dreaded, ever. Not unless he wanted to fuck everything up again.

His arrangement with Atem sounded like just as much of a bad idea as the party had in the first place. Nothing good had really come out of reportedly fucking Atem. Sore muscles and sore throat for Kaiba, and bruises for Atem. He had to admit, however - Atem handled them well. It may have been the emotional adrenaline, but he’d barely even winced. It was oddly arousing to recall the image of Atem standing before him - his hair a mess, his neck marked with a few relatively large, purple marks. He wanted to chalk up any sexual satisfaction he remembered to memories fabricated by a drug-induced haze, but the idea of hate-fucking someone as oddly gorgeous as Atem was enticing, especially if his pain tolerance was even close to that high while sober.

Kaiba felt he should be uncomfortable with this train of deranged, lustful thought, but unfortunately for him, the tightness building in his jeans worked against him. His discomfort rose as a black car pulled up in front of him. He quickly straightened up and slipped into the back, where a set of more familiar clothing was laid out on the seat beside him.

Kaiba apprehensively cleared his throat, wishing he had done so outside of the car, and tried to remain stone-faced as his own rough voice, “Mansion.”

“Are you alright Mr. Kaiba?” Isono asked, with a hint of genuine concern, looking at him through the rear view mirror.

Kaiba nodded firmly, “I just need something to drink,” he suggested, and Isono quickly produced a bottle of water for him. He accepted it, and tried to restrain himself from choking down the entire bottle. He hadn’t realized how dehydrated he was. After taking a slightly long drink, he focused his attention out of the window, staring pensively until the car began to move.

 

It had been about an hour since Kaiba had left. After he had stormed out the door, Atem had stood wavering on the spot with the disgusting taste, yet pleasurable memory, of Kaiba’s mouth on his lips. Kaiba had willingly kissed him, while sober, and asked him for...sex on demand?

_You’re available to me whenever I want you._

Did that mean...Kaiba would want him again?

_I need to get off. You’re easy, slutty, and available._

But that was it, right?

_If you died tomorrow I’d go out of my way to set your corpse on fire and see to it that your ashes were disposed of in a landfill._

As creative as ever with the insults and the threats. It was possible Kaiba did hate him, though. He’d mentioned some excuse about Mokuba, but Mokuba held no _real_ power over his brother. And Kaiba wasn’t one to do something pointlessly, especially something he didn’t want to do. So even if Kaiba hated him, he had to feel some sort of attraction. And that was all Atem had guiltily wished for, right? It had worked out, even if the beginning was going to be rough considering the circumstances. Kaiba could be as cruel as he was sarcastic.

Eventually he had made it to his bed, checking his phone with his thoughts elsewhere.

There were a bunch of messages from Yugi.

> **Yugi:** Good morning!
> 
> **Yugi:** Sorry if I woke you….I don’t know when you get up...heh
> 
> **Yugi:** I guess you’re still asleep, well
> 
> **Yugi:** I’m really glad last night went well!!!
> 
> **Yugi:** Er, I think it did. I hope you did too!
> 
> **Yugi:** Really, it was how I wished the first visit had gone...
> 
> **Yugi:** But anyway...how’d it go last night? Y’know, with the guy you like? (winky face)
> 
> **Yugi:** Sorry if that’s...too much?
> 
> **Yugi:** I don’t know how to really...start from scratch, I guess
> 
> **Yugi:** Since we were just always so connected…
> 
> **Yugi:** I hope you’re not ignoring me
> 
> **Yugi:** Sorry if that sounds like an attack, I’m sure I’m just being impatient

Atem felt his mind return to him reading through Yugi’s messages. He cringed slightly at the question about how it had gone with “the guy he liked” - the answer was terrible, but oddly not completely terrible. Better than terrible, but still not entirely ideal. He decided to skip over it, and address what Yugi was actually concerned about.

> **You:** Good morning, no you didn’t wake me, and I just woke up so I wasn’t ignoring you
> 
> **You:** We don’t have to start from scratch
> 
> **You:** I want it to be just like I never left

Atem bit his lip. No, that was wrong. They couldn’t just pretend he hadn’t been gone for _three years._ Besides, the way he had said it was a little insensitive. He was willing to accept all the consequences that came with the fact that he did _indeed_ leave, and pretending it hadn’t happened was invalidating all the feelings Yugi had every right to feel about it.

> **You:** Scratch that
> 
> **You:** I want to pick up where we left off
> 
> **You:** And I want to make up for all the time that I’ve missed

He stared at the screen, but no new messages popped up in return. He stretched out his thumbs over the screen, and acknowledged the pain in his wrists, and the faded purple bruising blemishing the skin. He gently squeezed one of his wrists with the opposite hand. He winced, it was definitely tender.

He instinctively brushed his hand against his neck, feeling it pulse with a couple distinct sore spots. He quickly pulled up his phone to discover deep red and purple marks on his neck.

“Holy fuck,” he whispered to himself. He didn’t recall it hurting as much as it appeared to - then again, he was still slightly high at the time.

He went to the fridge and pulled out the ice tray, then wrapped a couple cubes in a washcloth and pressed them gently against his afflictions. He wasn’t going to be caught dead with bruises like these in public. People were already generally put off by his tattoos. He pulled up the messaging app on his phone, not caring if Kaiba was going to be annoyed with him.

> **You:** What should I do about the very *obvious* bruises?
> 
> **You:** I can’t go anywhere like this

He bit his lip painfully, wondering if Kaiba would simply ignore him. Maybe he had been a little too direct. Kaiba was extremely uptight when he was upset, and the night before gave him plenty of reasons to be mad at Atem.

> **Kaiba:** Wear a turtleneck.

Atem blinked at the reply, and typed out a sarcastic reply before he could stop himself.

> **You:** Who do you think I am? You?

The moment that passed before the next reply felt like an hour. Atem stared intensely at his brave insult. He wondered if Kaiba would even register it was an insult - and berated his inner dialogue for being so brashly sarcastic at a time like this.

> **Kaiba:** Good concealer.
> 
> **You:** ...Which I don’t own.
> 
> **Kaiba:** Money can be exchanged for goods and services.
> 
> **You:** ...What money?
> 
> **Kaiba:** What, are you my pet now? Do I have to care for you?

Atem felt slightly insulted, and knew that being defiant was a big risk, but his wrists were absolutely aching from holding the phone and texting. He was in too much pain to keep holding in the slight resentment he felt.

It wasn’t like it was his fault Kaiba was so horny and rough while intoxicated.

> **You:** I’m not going to work like this.
> 
> **You:** And I’ll be too broke to be ‘available’ to you if I lose this job.
> 
> **Kaiba:** You won’t.

Atem briefly wondered if Kaiba was simply going to leave it at that, but to his surprise another message popped up soon after.

> **Kaiba:** I’ll create a checking account you can access.
> 
> **Kaiba:** Besides.
> 
> **Kaiba:** You need nicer things to wear if I’m going to risk being seen with you.
> 
> **Kaiba:** You only buy what I permit you to. But I’m not shopping for you. I’ll send info.
> 
> **Kaiba:** Future reference - don’t speak unless spoken to.
> 
> **Kaiba:** Now fuck off I have work to do.

Atem felt a bit taken aback. He hadn’t actually known what to expect, he was just acting impulsively. He definitely didn’t expect Kaiba to actually make any effort to help him with his predicament. It must have been the mention of his job, though he was a bit confused if that was the case. As if Kaiba would consider art a legitimate profession. He frowned at the remark on his clothing choices, wondering what Kaiba _would_ approve of Atem wearing while seen with him. Hopefully not fucking _turtlenecks_ if Kaiba was anywhere near as rough sober. He couldn’t imagine having to constantly hide various marks on his neck, no matter how amazing the pain sort of felt.

He felt heat pulse to his groin, and involuntarily blushed, embarrassed at his own arousal of the very thought of fucking Kaiba again. He wondered if it was a mistake that he had played it off like Kaiba had _actually_ fucked him. It was definitely easier to do so in the moment, he already had to explain that it was Kaiba who had overpowered _him._ It would be humiliating for both of them to admit that Kaiba had also _missed._ Not to mention that it was hard enough to get Kaiba to believe the first part, and he still wasn’t entirely sure Kaiba did. He dreaded to think Kaiba still believed that Atem would ever intentionally drug him, or do so with evil intent.

But Kaiba still wanted to have sex with him.

_I need to get off._

“Did he really said that? Or am I remembering it wrong?” Atem mulled to himself as his phone suddenly buzzed again.

> **Kaiba:** I submit a request - you say Yes sir. Got it, dog?

Atem grimaced, recalling memories of Kaiba using that same sort of insult toward Joey. He felt a stranger anger, remembering all the videos he had watched the night before with Yugi. Joey was a good friend, a good brother. He surely doubted Kaiba compared Joey to a dog because of his _loyalty._

He tried to come up with something to say that would piss Kaiba off.

> **You:** So, you’re into bestiality?
> 
> **Kaiba:** Bark, mutt.

There was barely a pause before the response. Atem rolled his eyes. Kaiba was dodging the sarcastic accusation with mockery.

> **You:** Bork

Atem cursed his quick fingers that caused the spelling error.

> **Kaiba:** Cute. Out of time. You’ll pay for it later.

Atem felt his whole body heat up, and shakily typed out another reply.

> **You:** Yes sir.

Atem frowned, immediately wishing he could take back his last response. He’d sent it, reduced to arousal by one vaguely sexual suggestion. It was conformation that Kaiba had won. He’d given him what he wanted.

He slumped down on one of the chairs at the table in defeat.

A few minutes later, his phone buzzed with a message from Kaiba detailing information about accessing the checking account Kaiba had mentioned. Atem felt himself go red in the face, feeling odd about accepting a handout from his former rival. The man he was stupidly crushing on. The guy he fantasized about. The person who had propositioned sex on his terms, his demand. He couldn’t help an overwhelming sense of humiliation wash over him realizing he was absolutely willing to sit and roll over like a dog if Kaiba so much as _pretended_ to want him.

He’d surely been alone for far too long.

He stared at the information, realizing he would have to go out to receive a card from the bank, unless he wanted to wait for it to be mailed in. Which he couldn’t do, because he had work tomorrow, and needed something to cover up the bruises by then. Mandatory hours, which were also Kaiba’s fault, but he brushed it off. He couldn’t risk pissing Kaiba off by bugging him more.

It was just a trip to the bank...in the city.

Kaiba had also left instructions about picking up the card, and he had probably already acknowledged that Atem couldn’t wait for the card to come in the mail. Atem grit his teeth, wondering how long Kaiba would continue being petty. Surely he somewhat deserved it - but for how long, exactly?

He looked back at his messages. Yugi still hadn’t responded. Atem hit the call button.

Yugi picked up after the second ring, _“Hey, Atem...sorry I didn’t...y’know. Respond.”_

“It’s fine. I don’t want to, um, appear rude or anything but actually...well. Is Tea available? I didn’t exactly get her number the last time her saw her...so...”

_“...Why?”_

“I need help.”

_“...With...what?”_

Atem stood up and began nervously pacing, “...Makeup.”

_“...Why?”_

Atem decided to bite the bullet, but of course, he had to tell a few lies to cover his tracks, “Well uh. Last night got a little. Intense. With my...boyfriend. And I need to get something to cover it up.”

 _“...Oh. Heh.. Ok. So that...guy you like...you guys hooked up?”_ Yugi sounded relatively amused.

Atem cringed, “...Yep.”

Yugi giggled on the other line, _“Okay. We’ll come pick you up. I’m sure she can help you out. Also, I agree. With what you said, about picking up where we left off.”_

“O...okay, uh, thanks, and I’m glad.”

_“Mhmm. See you in a bit.”_

Atem felt a bit dazed hanging up the phone.

He’d half expected Yugi to be awkward around the subject of “getting intense” with his “boyfriend” - then again, he’d lived in the guy’s head for a little over a year. Yugi wasn’t shy to having dirty thoughts, and judging by Yugi’s reaction over the phone, he’d even grown bold over the past few years. It was Atem, in fact, who had felt awkward about it.

Atem set about finding something less revealing to wear. Which was difficult, since he severely disliked anything that covered too much skin that wasn’t entirely necessary during the freezing months. It was spring, however - he’d look strange wearing a heavy coat, and even stranger with a heavy scarf and short/no sleeves. He tried to supplement in that case - adorning his wrists with bracelets, though slightly painful, and put on a leather choker.

He figured out his accessories, and was frowning at his image captured in his phone’s camera when a message announcing their arrival popped up on screen. The choker hardly covered anything. The marks were too high and too low to be hidden underneath it. He sighed in frustration, but put his phone and his wallet in his pocket and left anyway.

The small car he’d rode in with Tea was sitting near the bottom of the steps, and Atem felt his heart swell seeing Yugi and Tea wave at him from the front seats. He rushed over and slipped into the back. Tea was driving, and Yugi turned around in his seat and smiled coyly.

“Oh~ I see what you mean.”

Atem shrunk his neck into his shoulders as Yugi giggled. Tea scolded him for turning around in his seat as they approached a busier road.

“I actually have to stop by the bank first,” Atem mentioned timidly, “I...misplaced my card, and I still haven’t found it.”

“Okay, that’s fine. We can stop by on the way. You said you wanted to go get something to cover...that...up, right? I know a beauty store where we can pick up some good concealer.” She seemed relatively amused, like Yugi.

“Yeah,” Atem replied quietly.

“Rough night, huh? But...in the good way??” Yugi gushed, halfway turned in his seat, and Tea reached over to push his shoulder. They both giggled and bickered shortly.

“Well?” Yugi asked.

Atem fidgeted, focusing out the window, “...Yeah.”

“You’re modest as ever, Mou Hitori…” Yugi trailed off, “Ah...sorry, it’s been so long…”

Atem smiled nervously, “It’s fine, really. Pick up where we left off...right?”

“Right…”

The car was awkwardly silent for the few minutes it took to get to the bank. Atem tried to insist he could go in alone, but Yugi and Tea were just as insistent about following him in.

It was nerve-wracking walking up to a teller with only a slight clue of how this would work. He wasn’t exactly worried about getting into trouble as he was about somehow getting _Kaiba_ into trouble. The surveillance cameras made him anxious, and he was getting funny looks for simply being the only foreign-looking person in the room. He hoped the account wouldn’t give him away, though he knew Kaiba was meticulous in everything he planned out. Kaiba had given him directions about accessing his account, and for some reason added an additional segment if he didn’t have valid ID or citizenship. Of course Atem did, it had been a relatively difficult and slow process that was exceedingly boring but hard to forget. And he couldn’t have gotten a commission from a relatively high-profile game shop if he _didn’t._

The teller seemed very nervous during the entire exchange, and at the end, she eyed him suspiciously as she handed him a card in a thin cardboard cover. He wandered back to Yugi and Tea, who were waiting patiently on a couch. He felt the tips of his ears burn as he pulled the card out slightly and noticed its golden coloration.

Yugi raised an eyebrow at him, “Why are you acting all weird?”

“Ah. Nothing,” Atem said, quickly sliding out the card and putting it in his wallet, hoping he did it fast enough that no one would notice.

“Wait...do you have a gold card?” Tea asked, and at his reaction, her eyes widened, “How can you afford the annual fee? Not to be rude, but you-”

“Let’s not have that conversation here, okay?” Atem said quickly, and shoved them out the door.

“Why do you have a gold card? Don’t you have to make an insane amount of money to even apply for one?” Yugi asked quickly once they were outside.

Atem didn’t exactly know the logistics of it, but knew this was definitely Kaiba’s way of fucking him over. Kaiba probably had the power to ensure Atem didn’t get into serious trouble using the card - but the social cues of using it would be all wrong.

He was only permitted to make purchases Kaiba instructed him to. It wasn’t just Kaiba being controlling, it was a precaution. Kaiba had every right to be controlling about it, considering it wasn’t Atem’s money, but the fact he had registered him such a card really put Atem in an awkward position. Especially right at that moment, with Yugi and Tea questioning him about it.

Atem smiled awkwardly, lying through his teeth, “It’s a gift. From my boyfriend. To supplement my...expenses. I only make an artists wage after all...and he makes...uhm...a lot more.”

He saw both of their eyes suddenly go wide.

“Do you have a sugar daddy!?” Yugi and Tea asked simultaneously, and then immediately covered their mouths as they realized how loudly they had asked.

“Let’s...go back to the car before we talk about this. But we’re talking about this.” Tea said, with a strange aura of excitement and urgency.

Atem didn’t understand the concept of whatever a “sugar daddy” was, but he kept his mouth shut. He was unnerved by the curious expression on Yugi’s face as they followed Tea, who was striding ahead of them in long steps back to the car.

They all climbed in, and Tea and Yugi both dove right into asking questions.

“How old is he?”

“What’s his name?”

“Where does he work?”

“Is he cute?”

“How old is he??”

“Where did you meet him?”

“Is he your boyfriend, or do you just, you know?”

“How old is he???”

“Wait wait wait,” Atem interrupted frantically, “I don’t even know what a sugar daddy _is._ ”

“You...really don’t know? Oh honey,” Tea sighed in half-laughter.

“It’s someone you have an arrangement with, to have sex with, and in exchange he pays for everything you need.” Yugi explained, struggling not to laugh.

“He’s usually old and rich. At least old enough to be your dad. Thus, sugar _daddy._ ” Tea added.

Atem felt like he was emitting steam with how flustered he was getting, “No...No, that’s not what this is at all. He’s just. Doing something nice for me.”

“How long have you guys even been together? Is this the guy you told me about?” Tea asked.

“And how old is he?” Yugi questioned, “I can’t imagine you crushing like that over some _old_ guy.”

Atem shook his head frantically, “He’s not old, he’s our age. We’ve...been dating...for…” Atem sighed, “A day, but...it’s just a nice thing, he’s just helping me out.”

“Mhmm. Not...paying you back for leaving those bruises on your neck?” Yugi smirked.

“I’m using the money to buy the concealer so I don’t lose my job. That’s it.” Atem stated, feeling sort of like he was getting tossed around with these prying questions. How shocked they would be if only they knew he was covering for Kaiba right at that moment.

“I suppose, reasonable. But he gave you a _gold card._ He’s either head over heels for you and trusts you just that much already, or he’s planning to pay for a lot more than just _concealer.”_ Anzu teased.

“What’s his name?” Yugi asked.

Atem searched his head for the first fake name he could give Kaiba, and “Syo,” was the one that slipped out. He hoped that wouldn’t come back to haunt him later. Syo was the name of his coworker after all.

“Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. He could just be a _very generous_ boyfriend, investing in his hot, _new_ boyfriend,” Tea teased, “I’d just be careful not to depend on him for money, and I say dump him if he starts feeling entitled cause he pays for stuff.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Atem replied awkwardly, thankful as she started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

“Is he cute?” Yugi asked, and Tea reached over to playfully punch him in the shoulder.

“I’m right here you know!” Tea giggled.

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” Yugi shouted with amusement, “...But is he?”

Atem rolled his eyes and grimaced, thankful he was sitting behind them, “I wouldn’t say cute. Handsome, I suppose.”

“That means you’re the cute one then,” Tea laughed.

Atem nodded, unsure of how to respond. Yugi and Tea bickered over the radio station and settled onto a song they both enthusiastically belted out to, which Atem halfheartedly tried to join. It seemed the two had made up over the whole pregnancy test fiasco, which didn’t come as a surprise to Atem. It was enjoyable watching them interact, every fake-argument so full of love and humor, with sweet, genuine moments sprinkled in between. They seemed to touch each other’s hands a lot, a simple affectionate gesture that Atem recognized. It was simply more romantic in nature than touches shared between Yugi and himself.

They arrived at the beauty store and Tea immediately dragged him along to find concealer, with Yugi lagging only slightly behind. Atem noticed with a sense of unease that none of the staff came over to ask them if they needed assistance.

A group of girls also began to slowly accumulate in the isle across from where Tea was incessantly comparing shades against his skin.

“Does this look good to you?” She asked, holding his hand up to his face, with had a few swatches on it of similar tan shades.

He wasn’t entirely sure which she was asking about, but he didn’t know much about it anyway, and the atmosphere of the store made him immensely uncomfortable, so he just nodded. She smiled and began to rub the swatches off of his hand before she glanced up and tensed significantly.

“You’re Yugi, right?”

Atem swiveled around, seeing that the group of girls had now surrounded Yugi like a pack of sharks. The blood visibly drained from Yugi’s face, and Atem could feel Tea’s fingers anxiously digging into his palm.

Atem knew Yugi had never enjoyed public speaking. It made him extremely nervous. He did alright at scheduled events, but when he was simply out and about, it was much more nerve-wracking. And these girls had practically closed him in.

“It makes me so happy to see a guy like you endorsing makeup!”

“Yeah, I wish more guys wore makeup!”

 _“You’re so cute!”_ “What brands do you usually use?” “Do you have a makeup routine?”

“Can I have your number?” “Can you sign my purse?” _“Can you sign my face?”_

“Can I take a pic with you?” _“Of you?”_ “We could live stream a makeup tutorial with you!”

_“Do you wanna come hang out with us?”_

Atem got a headache just listening to them, and felt extremely confused when he was tugged in the opposite direction.

“What are you doing? We should help him out.”

“Here, go buy this, and then wait in the car,” Tea ordered, shoving two small containers into his hands, “I’m sorry, but you’re only gonna attract more attention. I don’t think I have to explain why. I’m sorry.” Tea hurried back to the aisle they’d left Yugi.

Atem blinked, and hesitantly walked up to the cashier and placed the items on the counter. She rang him up and looked extremely nervous accepting the gold card. She checked his ID, which he was glad matched the name on the card at least, and she was quick to usher him out after the transaction was completed. He took his time heading back to the car, looking back worriedly at the store, hoping Yugi was fairing alright with the fangirls. It was shockingly intense, but of course, it was a _feminine_ shop, he supposed. Atem and Tea had also neglected to pay attention.

Eventually, he saw Tea and Yugi leave the store, hand in hand. Yugi slipped into the driver’s seat, and not a word was spoken between any of them until they were on a street near the game shop, where Tea leaned back to address Atem.

“I hope it’s okay we go to the game shop for a while? Joey’s not working, so you don’t have to worry about that if you wanna come in.”

“Is it closed on weekends now?” Atem asked faintly, eyeing Yugi at the steering wheel anxiously.

Tea smiled tightly, “Yeah. It’s closed on weekends.”

The car pulled up in front of _Kame Game_ and Yugi turned off the car and got out without a sound. Tea followed quickly after, but Atem was a little more hesitant to get out. He shut the car door behind him, his eyes glued to the faded letters on the front of the shop. He briefly thought about offering to repaint them, then noticed that the door was already swinging shut behind the others. He picked up the pace, and felt like he stepped into another dimension as the bell rang above his head.

He saw Tea and Yugi’s figures retreating to the stairs, and he was frozen in place by the twist in his gut.

It was the same place, for sure, but it was also so foreign it made Atem’s head spin. The stock had been updated completely - he assumed that was what happened with each passing year, but even the artifacts that used to sit behind the glass cases had been replaced with display tech and figurines. He noted there were no puzzles out on the counter, no plants, no manga stacked beside the cash register, nothing to make the storefront feel homely or lived in.

He felt like a ghost walking up the stairs, and even more so standing in the hallway he had walked through a hundred times before. All the doors were closed, and he assumed Tea and Yugi were inside of Yugi’s room at the end of the hall. He found himself drawn to his old room, however.

He grabbed the cool handle, turning it slowly and letting the door swing out in front of him, and took a step inside.

It was just as he had left it, save for a change of sheets. A layer of dust sat on top of everything else, the bookshelf, the desk. He pulled open the closet, and greeted with a few spiderwebs between the clothes hangers of what he had left behind. He wondered why the sheets had been changed, but nothing else. Possibly, Joey used this room to sleep occasionally - he was going to be moving in after all, according to Yugi. Atem was sort of surprised that he hadn’t already, that Yugi had been living alone all this time. The other option, more depressingly, was that Yugi slept in his old room now and again. Both could certainly be true. Maybe Yugi finally made the decision to let Joey move in because Atem was back. Or he might even entirely missed out on the point Yugi might have been trying to make, offering up the suggestion that Joey would move in to see if Atem would ask to do so as well.

_“I mean there's another spare bedroom, she can live with both of us after that if she really wants to.”_

Maybe Yugi hadn’t been talking about Joey’s sister.

Atem quietly shut the door behind him, and ventured toward Yugi’s room, giving a couple soft knocks before entering.

Yugi’s room was entirely as he remembered it, apart from a new desk and computer. The same posters on the walls, the same toys and puzzles on the shelves, with a few new additions. Yugi was curled up against Tea on the bed, which also had an unfamiliar new set of sheets.

Atem decided to sit on the desk chair, moving it only slightly closer toward the bed.

“...Are you alright, Yugi?”

Yugi slowly sat up, “Yeah...I still can’t really handle the fans when they actually notice me. But I’m fine, just a little...you know. It’s been a while since I’ve been cornered like that, actually.”

“They were being real pushy with you,” Tea mentioned, rubbing Yugi’s shoulder reassuringly.

Atem nodded solemnly, “Not to change the subject...but what happened to all the artifacts downstairs?”

“Oh, well, I moved them to the back, and donated some of the legit ones to the museum,” Yugi sighed, “I mean, they _were_ sort of tacky.”

Atem frowned, “Sure but…” He bit his lip, wondering if it was the best time to bring up Yugi’s grandfather. Besides, Yugi had probably already considered his grandfather’s memory. They were artifacts he had found after all, and Yugi must have deliberated for months before taking them off the display.

“I don’t think Grandpa would mind so much. Besides, the ones I donated, now sit in actual exhibits. The others...well, I get to see them whenever I have to restock.” Yugi mumbled, “It’s not ideal, but I used to complain about how old and dusty they made the shop look anyway.”

Atem just nodded.

“Too bad Joey’s not working...I mean, good for you I suppose, but I could definitely use him right now to distract me.” Yugi mumbled.

“I’ll do something with you,” Atem said quickly, “And well, I do want to see him. And Tristan. I don’t know if I’m ready right this moment...but I do plan on it.”

“There’s a charity drive Wednesday afternoon for the animal shelter Tristan volunteers at, if you want to come?” Yugi offered timidly.

“Oh?”

Yugi nodded, “Yeah, I got the day off, and it’s not like a Wednesday is a busy day for the shop, so we’re staying closed. I dunno if it’ll be best for an initial meeting with Joey and Tristan...but everyone’s going, and I think it would be great if, well, _everyone_ was actually there.”

“I’d love to,” Atem felt a burst of excitement in his chest, “I think that would be a great way to reconnect with them, I mean...I’m not sure how they’d react at all but…I don’t know, it could be a surprise? Though, I’m not uh, sure they’d like a surprise from me...”

“I’m sure they’d be happy for at least the day,” Tea spoke up, “It would be so nice just to see the five of us together again. I think Bakura and Duke will be there too, unless Duke is still in LA.”

“I think he’s still in LA,” Yugi replied, “But Bakura’s definitely still here. I have no idea what his reaction would be to seeing you again...I really can’t speak for anyone. I wasn’t even sure how _I_ would react to seeing you again.”

“I know I said I’d feed you to the wolves, but...it would be nice to have a good day with all of us before I go back to New York.”

Atem nodded, “Thank you, Tea. I might end up stopping by before then...it depends on my situation. I have work before noon on Wednesday, but I can arrange to meet you somewhere before the drive, or show up there, definitely, if you don’t see me again before then.”

“Okay, then let’s get your makeup settled. I’ll show you how to use it, then we can play some games, sound good? You’re not doing anything today, are you? Can you stay for dinner?” Tea asked.

Atem smiled, “I didn’t have any plans for today.”

“Awesome!” Yugi bounced up off the bed, “I’ll go get your old deck!”

“You still have that?”

Yugi blushed, “Of course I do, you sorta left it here.”

Atem smiled, “Ah, I did. It’s been a while, but I’ll be happy to have you help me brush up on dueling.”

“Have you not been dueling?” Tea asked almost immediately.

Atem shrugged awkwardly, “Not...really...”

“I get it,” Yugi said, “I don’t think it’s been as fun either, without you here.”

Atem nodded thoughtfully, “Of course, I can’t duel without my friends cheering me on.”

 

* * *

**Author’s Note:**

Sorry for the lil extra wait, but life happens. This chapter was actually going to be longer, but then I’d never finish it in a decent amount of  time and it would also just be _ridiculously_ disproportionate. The excess just got moved to next chapter, so don’t worry about it. Hopefully it doesn’t screw with the pacing ;;

Also yes I did slip a few ~~outdated~~ memes in this chapter. Sue me. ╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭

btw [ I totally redid the inspiration playlist for this story on Spotify so go check out the music I like now and am currently using to fuel my creativity for future chapters ](https://open.spotify.com/user/alifelineofpages/playlist/7E6NL82bvfxxl1ln8FyVGQ?si=UDvU7svfQmWk8qaTDlGUAg)

Please let me know what you think about this chapter!! Am I funny yet?? Do you like how I represent the characters?? Ya bored?? If you’re not enjoying where this is going, or the pacing, etc, let me know why! I love and appreciate every comment I receive! ♡ 〜(^∇^〜）

**Next Update: August 10th**

~James


	14. That's All Folks :/

Hey guys. No new chapter here. I got bored with this story, and I'm gonna be busy with job corps beginning September 4th and I'll have limited access to the internet there anyway so...I guess now's as good of a time to stop as any.

I really tried to keep this story going but even jokes and memes really couldn't save it for me. 

Thank you so much for enjoying it though! Your comments really kept me going, and I'll always treasure the compliments you gave on my writing style. I am sorry to stop a story short, but come to your own conclusions about where I was going with this I guess.

If you're unfollowing my future works because I cancelled this story - thank you for reading this far!!! Hope you find some good works, there's always my busy bee writer friend  [ Ugli  ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettiugli/pseuds/prettiugli) who is crazy and updates multiple stories and hasn't left a story unfinished thus far. I also enjoy  [ Nenya ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nenya85/pseuds/Nenya85) and  [ marshmallons ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marshmallons) \- I don't get around to  _ reading  _ fan fiction a lot so I pretty much stick to those three as reliable sources of good writing and inspiration.

I’m probably going to be on hiatus the entire time I'm at job corps, because of the whole limited-internet thing. I'll be in a very rural area so I won't have any personal Wi-Fi. Bummer, I know. I have plans to keep writing though! I just won't be able to post until that's done, but hopefully I can finish it and just post a bunch regularly for you guys when I get out of job corps in a year or so.

I'll also be home again for Christmas/New Year time so I might post like a one shot or something. No promises though.

See you in a couple months, or a year. Or more. It's finally happening!!! It only took half a year to finally get a plane ticket. Whoop.

Bye for now! Thank you for all your support!

~James


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